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A 



HISTORY 



Tenth Regiment, 

VERJVIONT VOLUNTEERS, 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF THE OFFICERS WHO FELL IN BA. E. 
AND 

A CO^IPLETE ROSTER 

OF ALL THE OFFICERS AND MEN CONNECTED WITH IT — SHOWING ALL 

CHANGES BY PROMOTION, DEATH OR RESIGNATION, DURING 

THE MILITARY EXISTENCE OF THE REGIMENT. 



BY 

ChA'PLAin E. M. Haynes. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 



Tenth Vermont Regimental Association. 
1870. 

rrr 



/ 



Y-'^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

E. M. HAYNES, 

In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for tlie 
District of Vermont. 







\ Or r'V JOURNAL STEAM PRESS, LEWISTON, M: 




TO THE EEADER. 

Tnis ^ork, such as it is, now committed to the citizens c ermont, 
and, so far as it may concern them, to the general public, A espec-* 
ially to the friends and surviving members of the ^jnth Regiment, 
was authoritatively assigned to the hands that have performed it. 

It was the great good fortune of Yermont to have such Executives 
as Governor Fairbanks to put the State into line, Governor Hol- 
BROOK to bear up the standard during his terms of official service, 
and Governor Smith to close up the struggle and bridge the chasm 
to returning peace ; and that during all of this trying period, her 
exchequer was imder the experienced care of Hon. John B. Page, 
as State Treasm-er, since an honored Governor of the State. These 
men performed distinguished service for the State and the Nation, in 
the faithful discharge of their civil offices, and to their acknowledged 
ability and patriotic endeavors, with the universal sympathy and coop- 
eration of all loyal citizens, those in the field were vastly indebted. 
"We trust that we- may ever hold them in grateful remembrance for 
their valuable services. 

' The author has apprehended the difficulties to be encountered in 
undertaking to present the history of a single Regiment, where all 
of its military operations, its victories and defeats, have been shared 
by similar and larger organizations, but they have not been mastered. 
No attempt has been made to give undue prominence to this organ- 
ization to the disparagement of others from the same or other States ; 
stiU the Texth Regiment and its operations have been the particular 
subjects of the following pages. Hence the descriptions of battles. 



IV 

■n-here we were but a fraction compared with the whole engaged — a 
grain in the vast weight that crushed the Eebellion — the somewhat 
detailed account of marches and of time, the careful references to 
movements and position, and also to commanders, have been more 
to present these subjects than from any judgment that he was com- 
petent to deal skillfully with the vast material that lies waiting for 
the real historian of the war to gather up and embody m a form 
which shall tell, 

"When many a vanished age hath flown," 

^ how the IsTation was assailed, how it struggled and was saved. 

The author claims none of the honors that he has so freely, and 
it is hoped, justly, accorded to those who bore muskets and girded 
themselves with the sword; his the pleasant task to record these 
honors and brave deeds for those whom it is feared would suffer them 
to be forgotten. He is aware that he repeats the earnest recommend- 
ation of others when he here expresses the conviction that a similar 
service should be done for every military organization that went from 
the State and served in the War of the Rebellion. Each should have 
its own particular history. Something of this kind, worthy of the 
name, has been done. Lieutenant Benedict has given to the State 
"■Vermont at Getty shiirg," embracing, as its title indicates, a brilliant 
record of the Yermont troops during that brief though important 
period of their experience. But Colonel A. F. Walker has performed 
a more laborious and worthy task in his admirable account of " The 
Vermont Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley," which is all that it pur- 
ports to be, and thoroughly exhausts the material famished by that 
brilliant campaign. Major Waite has published a book entitled 
"Vermont in the BehelUon," in which he has made allusion to all of 
the organizations from the State. But that his book is made up of 
mere allusions, brief sketches and outlines — all that he intended to 
do, doubtless — it is feared will render it somewhat ansatisfiictory. 
Personal histories are wanted, perhaps not of men nor of regiments — 
but something similar to Colonel Walker's and Lieutenant Bene- 
dict's, which would tell us of Yermont in the Peninsular Campaign 



and of the campaigus of 1864 and 18G5 with the Army of the Poto- 
mac, and an account of the noble service of her sons in the far South ; 
then our duty towards the men who suffered and the men who perished 
for our beloved country will have been, in one measure, accomplished. 

As it will be seen that the roster of non-commissioned officers and 
enhsted men is imperfect in some respects and incomplete in others, 
it may be well to state that it was impossible to make it entirely 
perfect, on account of the lack of information. As, for instance, a 
great many more men were twice wounded than are so reported, 
because dates of their wounds are oftentimes wanting. It is incom- 
plete in regard to some instances of transfer, and in regard to ever\- 
case of discharge during or at the close of the service, because these 
things were deemed to be of minor importance ; but it is believed 
that the name of everj' man who was ever connected with the regi- 
ment will be found in this list, and had it been practicable much more 
would have been said of them and of their gallant service. Those 
names with the officers' roster, showing simply the changes in rank 
aud the time when their service ceased, have been taken from the 
published Keports of the Adjutant-Geuoi-al for 1864, 186.5 and 1866. 
The record of wounds, not found in the body of the work, have been 
taken from unpublished official reports kindly furnished fi-om the office 
of Brevet Major-General "William Wells, Adjutant and Inspector- 
General of Vermont. 

The author is indebted to the friends of Adjutant James Kead for 
the use of a diary kept by that officer from May to September, 1864, 
which has been employed to verify, and sometimes correct, his own, 
covering the same dates; and to Captain George E. Davis for notes 
furnished for a part of the seventh chapter. To the friends of officers 
who were killed in the service, he returns brief biographies from the 
reminiscences which they so promptly siipplied. The biography of 
Lieutenant B. B. Clark, a brave soldier who was mortally wounded 
at Cedar Creek, has not been prepared because material for the same 
could not be obtained. 

There are some mistakes, which the reader -^ill please correct by 
reading on page 49, fourteenth line from the bottom, " enem\' " for 



VI 



"army"; on page 63, "straggler" for "struggle," and "Brock road" 
for "brook road"; on page 95, seven lines from the top, "ten" for 
"three"; and in every case "Kamseuv" for "Ransom," in the account 
of the Battle of 'Winchester, * 

E, M. H. 
April, 1870, 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. ...... . 9-18 

Organization — To Camp Chase. 

CHAPTER II. . 19-32 

In the Defences of Washington. 

CHAPTER III. . , 33-54 

In the Amiy of the Potomac — Campaign of 1863. 

CHAPTER IV 55-87 

From the Rapidan to Petersburg. 

Brandy Station, ,...,.■ 55 
The "VTildemess, ...... 62 

Spottsylvania, ...... 69 

Between the Annas, ...... 74 

Cold Harbor, ...... 78 

Swinging across the James, to Petersburg, . . 83 

CHAPTER Y 88-101 

Battle of the Monocacy. 

CHAPTER YI 102-137 

In the Shenandoah Yalley. 

Sheridan's Battle of "Wiachester, ... 108 

Fisher's Hill, . ... . . . .115 

Cedar Creek, ...... 122 



CHAPTER VII 

Again at Petersburg. 

Battle of the Twenty-fifth of March, 

Battle of the Second of April, 

The Fall of Petersburg and Richmond, 

CHAPTER YIII. 
Conclusion. 
Brief Biographies — 

Major Dillingham, . 

Captain Frost, .... 

Captain Thompson, 

Captain Darrah, 

Lieutenant Stetson, 

Lieutenant ISTewton, . 

Lieutenant Hill, 

Adjutant Read, 

APPEIfDIX, .... 

Roll and Roster of the Regiment. 



PAGE 

138-156 

138 

. 143 

147 

157-203 



169 
. 175 

180 
. 183 

185 
. 187 

190 
. 193 

205-244 



INDEX, 



245-249 



THE 



TENTH VERMONT. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE Tenth and Eleventh Regiments Vermont Volun- 
teers were recruited simultaneously. 
On the eighteenth of June, 1862, the following despatch 
from the Adjutant-General of the Army was received by 
the Governor of Vermont : 

"We are in pressing need of troops. How many can 
you foi-ward immediately.^" 

The Governor' replied to the Secretary of War : 

" The Ninth Regiment is nearly full, and will be ready 
for marching orders in some ten days. Probably the Tenth 
could be recruited in some forty or fifty days from this date 
(June 35). If the Government needs the Tenth Regiment, 
and you make direct requisition for it, we will raise it." 

The War Office thundered back : 

" Organize yoicr Tenth Regif?ie?it" 
2 



lO 



On the first of July the President issued his call for three 
hundi-ed thousand more troops, and both the Tenth and 
Eleventh were to be reckoned as a part of Vermont's quota 
in this call. A few hundred men were already enlisted, but 
recruiting stations and principal recruiting officers were ap- 
pointed for this regiment as follows : On the tenth of July, 
at Burlington, Reed Bascom ; at Waterbury, Edwin Dilling- 
ham ; eleventh, at Rutland, John A. Sheldon ; twelfth, at 
Swanton, Hiram Piatt ; at St. Albans, Charles G. Chand- 
ler ; fourteenth, Derby Line, Hiram R. Steel. 

The companies were all organized according to the fol- 
lowing dates, and with the following named officers as cap- 
tains : 

Co. A, St. Johnsbury, July ii. 1862, Capt. Edwin B. Frost. 

" B, Waterbury, Aug. 4, 1862, Capt. Edwin Dillingham. 

" C, Rutland, Aug. 5, 1862, Capt. John A. Sheldon. 

" D, Burlington, Aug. 5, 1862, Capt. Giles F. Appleton. 

" E, Bennington, Aug. 7, 1862, Capt. Madison E.Winslow. 

" F, Swanton, Aug. 6, 1862, Capt. Hiram Piatt. 

" G, Bradford, Aug. 12, 1862, Capt. Geo. B. Damon. 

" H, Ludlow, Aug. 8, 1862, Capt. Lucius T. Hunt. 

" I, St. Albans, Aug. 11, 1862, Capt. Chas. G. Chandler. 

" K, Derby Line, Aug. 12, 1862, Capt. Hiram R. Steel. 

FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. 

Colonel — A. B. Jewett. 
Lieutenant-Colonel — John H. Edson. 
Major — W. W. Henry. 
Adjutant — Wyllys Lyman. 
Quarter-Master — A. B. Valentine. 
Surgeon — Willard A. Childe. 
Assistant Surgeon — J. C. Rutherford. 

" " — Almon Clark. 

Chaplain — E. M. Haynes. 



II 



The regiment went into camp at Brattleboro', Vt., on the 
fifteenth of August, and was mustered into the United States 
service on the first day of September, with one thousand and 
sixteen officers and men. 

During the time intervening between our going into 
camp and the date of leaving the State, the regiment was 
practiced in company drill almost daily. The men were 
supplied with old Belgium muskets, which they used while 
gaining some knowledge of the evolutions in infantry tactics. 
These they also carried to the seat of war. They were old 
rusty pieces, heavy and not fit for the most unimportant 
service of the soldier. Some of the men tried to scour them 
up, and others looked upon them with too much indifler- 
ence to bestow a moment's labor upon them. It is doubted 
whether one-half of them could have been discharged under 
any circumstances ; and yet it is well remembered that the 
Adjutant and Inspector-General took occasion to reprimand 
some of the men because their old " fusees," as they con- 
temptuously called them, were not in good order. 

These days were also occupied in otherwise equipping 
the troops, and supplying them with a complete outfit for a 
camp and campaign in the field. 

Looking back through the years of experience that fol- 
lowed these brief days of preparation in the peaceful camp 
at Brattleboro', we must be amazed at the amount of imped- 
hnenta that each officer and enlisted man called his own, 
and no doubt expected to take with him to the field and 
carry to the end. 

The Qiiarter-Master's supplies and the ordnance stores 
were such as were usually issued. Calling to mind now 
the loaded form of a soldier of that day, how enormous he 
seems ! How could we suppress the exclamation, " Equip- 
ments, where are you going with that man?" Their heavy 
square knapsacks, haversacks, cartridge-boxes, canteens, and 
huge rolls of woolen and india-rubber blankets, and these 



12 

all strapped over their forms, made to look ungainly by 
loose-fitting coats and baggy trowsers, presented them rather 
as caricatures than the well-shaped men that most of them 
were. 

But each man had much more in his possession than 
could be reasonably embraced in quarter-master's and ord- 
nance stores. There were few who did not have a writing- 
case of some description, with a good supply of stationery ; 
many had several books, the works of favorite poets, a hymn 
book, prayer-book, and the Testament. They had finger 
brushes, tooth brushes, hair brushes, and combs — which 
last-named article they hardly needed, unless it was to 
scratch their heads, for their hair was cropped too short to 
do much at combing it. Each man had his fancy bag — 
many were tri-color, red, white and blue, with various com- 
partments for thread, yarn, needles, pins and buttons. 
Many of them had bottles and packages of patent medi- 
cines, which were industriously circulated by quacks who 
came into camp, or furnished by careful, prudent mothers 
who lived away among the hills, who had always treated 
the ailments of their boys with root-and-herb drinks. These, 
however, were used " on the sly," against the "mild" pro- 
test of the surgeons, for the fatal malaria and contagion of 
strange climates and the camp. 

Other things they had also, which were neither books 
nor medicines — but the inventory is already too large. 
Where all these articles were stored, and how transported, 
would be difficult for the argus-eyed Quarter-Master to 
determine. 

There was an irrepressible desire to accumulate " lug- 
gage," and it was not subdued through months and years of 
service — only afterwards the articles accumulated in the en- 
emy's country or elsewhere were said to be " confiscated." 
This penchant was no less observable in the officers than in 
the men. They had more privileges, were allowed more 



13 

transportation. In fact, an enlisted man had no transporta- 
tion except his strong, willing back. Each captain, at the 
start, was entitled to a chest in which to transport the tools 
and books belonging to his company. Other officers also 
had these chests. There were fifteen or twenty of these 
large boxes, about the size of a respectable carpenter's tool- 
chest, all iron-bound and painted blue, bearing in front the 
respective company's letter, under which was painted in 
black, " Tenth Vt. Vols." 

Each oflicer had a trunk or large valise, usually a trunk, 
weighing from forty to a hundred and fift}' pounds. Many 
of them had tables, mess kits and mess chests, camp-stools, 
fancy cots, and patent water-proof mattresses. Each com- 
pany had twenty A tents, the company officers two wall 
tents, and the field and staff' officers one wall tent each, 
making in all several cords of tent-poles, and unestimated 
bales of canvas. 

All this, we knew, was destined for the field, and we 
thought for long campaigns and distant camps. How woe- 
fully we were mistaken ! What havoc and ravages were 
made by the Qiiarter-Master ! What ever became of nine- 
tenths of this splendid outfit no mortal can tell. The regi- 
ment had a library of two hundred volumes, presented by 
Captain E. B. Frost, which was kept, through some diffi- 
culties, for nearly a year ; but it was at last reluctantly 
abandoned, and is probably now stored with the Chaplain's 
camp-cot, chairs, table, et cetera, with many pleasant mem- 
ories of the officers of this regiment, at the house of a good 
old Qiiaker in Maryland, near Pooleville. And so all along 
the marches of three years of sei'vice — some of them sad 
and dreary, if not hasty, and many of them grand and tri- 
umphant, those things collected at Brattleboro', and carried 
from home, bestowed by kind friends, became scattered 
through ten States of the Union, just as the energies and 



H 

strength of many a noble man, wasted away forever, in the 
hour of his country's need. 

There were other scenes at the camp in Brattleboro', 
that all of us who are living will long remember — among 
them, perliaps, the preliminary steps of a regiment in the 
art of war, the service incident to this experience, guard 
and police duty, discipline, and all that might tend to a 
good military organization of volunteers. 

While here, the men were allowed brief " furloughs," 
and the officers a day or two " leave of absence," to ar- 
range matters of business, to revisit friends, and bid them a 
sad or cheerful farewell. We took in turn their blessings 
and pledges of devotion foi: years to come, if stern war 
would spare them the opportunity. Wives and children, 
fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, came to cheer 
the dear boy, and kiss him, and bless him, before he went 
away to meet the fate of the battle-field, the rebel prison, or 
the more universal destroyer, disease. Maidens came to 
meet lovers and renew, now less slyly, the holy vow whis- 
pered months ago, among the mountains, that death would 
soon dissolve forever. 

This is something of what pertained to our brief days of 
camp life at Brattleboro', very much, it is presumed, like 
the routine and incidents of other camps. It is possible 
that some of them have not been recorded, but all will be 
best identified in the remembrance of the living. 

While we were uttering these farewells, the Govern- 
ment, whose laws we had just sworn to obey and defend, 
summoned us to a broader experience and to sterner duties. 
The regiment left the State on the sixth of September, 
filling eighteen long passenger cars, and nearly as many 
freight cars with baggage and camp equipage. We left the 
railroad station about two o'clock P. M., going via Spring- 
field, Mass., to New Haven, Conn., where we arrived about 



15 

ten o'clock in the evening, thence by steamboat Conti- 
nental, to New York, where we arrived at daylight Sun- 
day morning, the seventh. We were met by Colonel Howe, 
of General Dix's staff'; the officers were taken to the Astor 
House to breakfast, and the men were sumptuously fed at 
the barracks at City Hall Park. Here one man deserted. 
We reembarked at New York about ten o'clock, and after a 
beautiful sail down the harbor to Perth Amboy, went by 
rail over the Camden and Amboy Railroad to Philadelphia, 
and so on to Baltimore and Washington, where we arrived 
on the evening of the eighth. Left Washington next moi'n- 
ing ; crossed Long Bridge and arrived at Camp Chase same 
day. It was an old camp, near or upon Arlington Heights, 
where a hundred regiments had been encamped before. 

We did not like the place assigned us, nor the odor 
about it, peculiar to such places. Colonel Jewett begged 
the privilege of selecting another, so we went on beyond, to 
new ground that had not been occupied by those who had 
come and gone before us. We cut down the small trees, 
uprooted stumps and cleared away the " slash," and before 
night, our tents having been brought along in the meantime, 
w^ere in comfortable quarters. 

Now we supposed that we were in the great army of 
patriots — perhaps the Army of the Potomac, of which we 
had heard so much, and of which the nation was expecting 
so much. The grand river from which this army took its 
name, and whose waters had more than once been tinged 
with the blood of our brothers, rolled calmly on a few hun- 
dred yards before us. Beyond it we saw the Nation's Cap- 
ital, and upon and along on either side were the Nation's 
Defenders, stationed in the chain of forts that belted it and 
bristled from every highland around it. 

New regiments, like ourselves, were constantly arriving 
and going into camp around us. By and past us rode 
orderlies ; and companies of troopers browned in the serv- 



i6 



ice, old soldiers of the infantry, grim and greasy, stalked 
by, looking half contemptuously and half pit^'ingly upon us 
"raw recruits," as they called us ; the clean and gaily-dressed 
artillerymen passing down to the city, and horrible looking 
Zouaves, with their red Turkish trousers, yellow-trimmed 
jackets and scarlet skull-caps with long tassels hanging 
down their backs — some of them wore enormous nubias 
twisted ingeniously several times around their heads, for a 
covering to that part of their bodies. Who ever thought of 
putting men into this gear? They looked more like trained 
monkeys than they did like Uncle Sam's brave boys, as they 
were. 

These scenes going on around us, led us to pictvn-e, 
though imperfectly, as after experience taught, the work 
that was before. Our courage then rose to and mastered 
difficulties and won victories of which veterans had never 
dreamed. Men talked of being led to battle. Under the 
fresh ardor of patriotism which then wrought noble resolu- 
tions — and which, thank God! never wholly ceased — 
under the inspiration of incidents new and strange to most 
of us, the letters written home to friends spoke of deeds of 
daring, and high hopes that were never, and never could be 
realized. 

But it would be vain to undertake to tell of the emotions 
that struggled under the uniforms of these " boys in blue " 
at this time. Many of them were boys indeed, just from 
homes they had never left before — peaceful and happy 
homes among the mountains, whose sides they had climbed 
in childish glee, and that was the roughest experience they 
had ever met with. The sweet remembrance of a mother's 
kiss yet burned on their lips. Why should they rightly 
judge of what was before them ? It was well they could 
not. It is well that Infinite Mercy curtains all the future 
froin His creatures, in mysterious silence, and yet in hopeful 
invisibility. 



17 

But there are two other incidents which properly belong 
to this first chapter of our history and experience as sol- 
diers. They came, indeed, before we were fairly initiated, 
the first at Philadelphia. It was in the generous welcome 
and hearty kindness of the citizens of that place. 

It was midnight when we reached Camden, opposite 
the cit}^, yet the signal gun announced our arrival, and by 
the time we were ferried across the river the streets were 
filled with men, women and children, hastening to welcome 
us, and give us the cheer of their warm hearts and boun- 
teous hands. The Soldiers' Home, so well known to every 
soldier, sick or well, who passed through the Qiiaker City 
during the years of the Rebellion, was lighted up, and an 
acre of tables were groaning beneath the weight of pro- 
visions, of all wholesome varieties, which were just suited 
to the wants of rugged, healthy men, besides an abundance 
of tea and coffee, steaming hot. To all this we were freely 
invited and most cheerfully partook of the same. This 
place, we learned, was furnished and supplied constantl}' 
with this kind of entertainment for soldiers passing to and 
from the army, by the ladies and citizens of Philadelphia. 
Their munificence was wonderful. Few people have any 
idea how much food a thousand hungry men will consume 
at one meal, yet we were all abundantly supplied, and there 
was enough left for as many more ; besides, we were told 
that ours wa§ the t'lventy-eigJith regiment that had partaken 
of this hospitality ivithin one week. 

Their words of encouragement, also, were profuse and 
heartfelt, equalling other expressions of kindness. Too 
much cannot be said in praise of this noble charity, unceas- 
ing while there was one left to whom it could ofler its sub- 
lime ministry. Noble women, it seemed to us, some of 
them too old, and others too delicate, to brave the chilly air 
of a September night, crowded around to receive vis and 
assure us of their sympathy and prayers. This spirit was 



i8 



so warm and so true, and its expression so oft-repeated, that 
the hearts of children became imbued with it. I saw a Httle 
girl skipping about this place, where all loved so well to 
meet, and with her innocent face turned up to mine she 
asked, " Ou doing to war?" "Yes, my darling," I s^id. 
" Dod bless ou," she replied. And the picture never faded 
.away. Many times, in hours of danger, in camp and on 
dreary marches, and when the battle raged, it came in vis- 
ions, the same innocent face and earnest utterance, and with 
it the Father's blessing. God bless the citizens of Philadel- 
iphia ! said we all, and so say we now. 

At Baltimore we met with the same welcome, and were 
entertained in a manner that testified to the fidelity and 
patriotism of the Union people of that intensely rebel city. 
They did the best they could, and did well. It was danger- 
ous, probably, at that time, to make too great a demonstra- 
tion on the side of the Union ;" yet the Union men, although 
trembling at the fearful odds they knew existed against 
them, and might break out at any time, were quietly firm, 
and gave every soldier of the Republic a deep and honest 
welcome, and thought that he deserved a tithe of all that 
they possessed. All honor to the Baltimore Unionists ! 

We halted in the railroad station on Pratt street, where, 
on the nineteenth of April preceding, the Sixth Massachu- 
setts Regiment gave the first martyrs to the cause of Uni- 
versal Freedom in America. The bullet-hoies in the roof 
of the station-house were the fierce, fiery eyes of the seces- 
sion spirit that looked down upon us, and that we faced 
steadily to the end. 



19 



CHAPTER II. 

WHILE we lay at Camp Chase the Army of the 
Potomac was marching to resist the invasion of 
Maryland by the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia, and 
preparing to fight the battles of South Mountain and An- 
tietam. The second battle of Bull Run had just been 
fought and lost under the generalship of Pope. We had 
already listened to many a thrilling incident of that strange 
succession of fights by some of the participants in one or 
more of its engagements. We therefore the more eagerly 
read the newspaper accounts of the movements of the army 
under General McClellan's leadership. In the anxiety ex- 
pressed concerning the campaign, our enthusiasm rose, and 
we wondered if we should join the march and share in the 
impending conflict — wondered and wished we might. We 
listened to the booming of the distant cannon at South 
Mountain and at Harpei^'s Ferry, The Ninth Vermont 
Regiment, just preceding us from the State, had been sta- 
tioned at Harper's Ferry, and the day after we left Camp 
Chase were disgracefully surrendered, with ten thousand 
others, to Stonewall Jackson, by Colonel Miles, of the Reg- 
ular Army, who had once before proved himself a traitor. 
These were the first guns we had ever heard discharged in 
actual war, and it is well remembered how the men wished 
to be there. 

But before the fields of South Mountain and Antietam 
were won, we had broken camp and were off on a long 
march. Our destination was thirty or forty miles up the 
Potomac River, at Edwards Ferry, Seneca Lock, and inter- 



20 



mediate points ; our duty, to guard the Maryland side of the 
stream. The march was a long and tedious one for us, re- 
quiring several days to accomplish it. The men had never 
marched before, had no idea of its hardships, and were 
easily discouraged upon their first trial. Although they 
started off briskly and joyfully, yet they soon began to bend 
under the weight of their heavy knapsacks and old Belgium 
muskets. Three miles from camp they stacked the former 
in an old barn by the road, and three miles beyond bivou- 
acked for the night. The next day's march was little less 
fatiguing, on account of the weariness and lameness caused 
the day before, and from which one night's rest, unaccus- 
tomed to such business as the men were, was insufficient for 
them to wholly recover. Still we plodded on, not knowing 
what we were to meet, nor was it known whither we were 
going, except to the officers. This uncertainty and vague- 
ness among soldiers, always necessary, pei'haps, was then, 
as ever afterwards, a great source of annoyance. The com- 
manding officer, of course, had his orders tolerably well 
defined, and some other officers generally knew the sub- 
stance of these orders, but it was impossible that all the 
men should know. 

" Theirs but to do and die." 

On the third day from Camp Chase, the left wing halted 
at Seneca Lock, on Seneca Creek, a place on the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Canal ; the right wing went to Edwards 
Ferry. Company C remained at regimental head-quarters, 
which were established at a pleasant place on the river, be- 
tween the two wings, called Pleasant's Meadows. Each 
wing sent out companies towards the centre ; the left wing 
one, Company G, below, so the line of pickets extended 
from Edwards Ferry to Muddy Branch. In this position, 
or rather in these positions, we remained from the seven- 
teenth of September till the middle of October, Lieutenant- 



21 



Colonel Edson commanding the right wing, and Major 
Henry the left. The Colonel, Surgeons, Qiiarter-Master 
and Chaplain were all stationed at head-quarters, whence 
they radiated in the discharge of their various duties. 

On this line we began to learn something of the routine 
of camp life, while there was little to vary its monotony 
except now and then the cackling and fluttering of fowls 
and the squealing of pigs that had carelessly strayed into 
camp. At this early period of our service the Colonel, 
with a marvelous attempt at discipline which soon exhausted 
itself, undertook to hold the men responsible for the pres- 
ence of these pigs and fowls in their quarters, conduct for 
which of course they were in no wise responsible ; and 
when these same straying quadrupeds and bipeds began to 
flock to his own mess table he no doubt learned his mistake. 

"Head-quarters" was the most attractive point along 
the picket line. Here the suttle — that most indispensable 
source of a soldier's comfort, while it furnishes a sui'e if not 
safe means for the investment of his spare funds — was sta- 
tioned. Men and officers came here from their various 
posts to impart their observations and receive instructions, 
and here they came to see the "Doctor." 

While here we experienced our first "scare." This was 
an event that happened to most regiments at some time or 
other, usually not long after they came into the service. 
Connected with our scare was a somewhat amusing inci- 
dent, which will come in in its place. 

One Sunday morning — it was the fifth of October — we 
were all called out by a fierce beating of the long roll, and 
it was announced that the enemy was crossing the river in 
considerable force, to attack us. This report went along the 
whole line, and the men were rallied at the different posts 
and prepared to resist his crossing or fight a battle. Private 
baggage was packed hurriedly, and the teams put in readi- 
ness to move camp equipage and stores. Companies I and 



22 



D, under the cautious command of the Lieutenant-Colonel, 
were ordered from their camp and thrown towards the 
river, where, stationed in the cut of the canal, which the 
rebels had sometime before made tenable by draining it of 
w^ater, they awaited the further orders of their gallant leader, 
who was with them, standing bravely at their head, urging 
them to " hold steady." Now follows the amusing part of 
the story. To the officers of these companies the position 
was one of great trial, as they were compelled to remain 
there several hours after the necessity for doing so had 
passed, if indeed it ever existed, and it was rendered still 
more tiying by certain recollections of a fine fat, smoking 
pig, which they had procured the day before, and that was 
then roasting before the fire for their breakfast. The excite- 
ment of meeting an armed foe having somewhat subsided, 
their thoughts instinctively turned to this porcine preparation 
going on at camp for a right good Sunday feast. While in 
undisturbed waiting, before they were so hastily summoned 
to arms, they had anticipated the onslaught upon his pigship 
with considerable relish, and with this brown, smoking vision 
before them, while they lay on the cold ground in this wet 
and foggy October morning, their appetites were made even 
sharper for the pig. Soon it appeared that there was no 
enemy within miles of them, and it was idle to remain there 
longer. Still the Colonel was unwilling to withdraw his 
command, though he himself returned to the camp, where 
he found the pig well roasted, and awaiting the return of 
his subalterns. Alas, then, for the pig ! Alas for the fond 
anticipations of these gallant gentlemen ! They were soon 
relieved, but there has been a tradition handed down to us 
by the Captain and Lieutenants, that while they guarded 
the ford and clung with sublime devotion to the position that 
had been assigned them on the river bank for hours after the 
Colonel had left them, that he was banqueting alone. 

It was at this place that the first of that long list of men 



23 

who fell victims to disease died in camp. He belonged to 
Company C, Charles H. Dayton, and was ill but five days. 
It may be spoken of because it ci-eated such a sensation 
among his comrades at the time. They immediately raised 
money among themselves to defray the expenses of embalm- 
ing his body and sending it home. I have often thought 
of that noble charity which then said: "Yes, Charlie, we 
will send you to your distant friends, to sleep where their 
vigilance may guard your sepulchre." But it was soon 
changed to a nobler self-devotion that thought it gain, and 
even a coveted sacrifice, to die, though left beneath a thin 
covering of earth, far from home, and upon a spot they had 
consecrated by a patriot's death. 

On the eleventh of October these various detachments 
were called in, and the regiment went into camp at Seneca 
Creek, near the place formerly occupied by the left wing. 
The camp was established about five hundred yards back 
from the river, and perhaps a little more than that distance 
below the Creek, upon a strip of land sloping down from a 
wooded bluff to a swamp in front, between us and the river. 
This place was once a cultivated field, open at both ends. 
On the north it reached out beyond the swamp to a broad 
plain ; on the south also it extended beyond this oblong 
piece of swamp to an undulating field still beyond. 

Our tents just filled this space, the officers' and company 
quarters reaching cltar across from the woods to the swamp, 
and just covered the entire length of the swamp, so that 
from any point forty yards to the front or to the rear, we 
were completely shielded from observation. On the right 
the troops were daily exercised in company and battalion 
drill. On the left there were some of them daily buried. 

Did this location have anything to do with the sickness 
that prevailed there, and from which large numbers died ? 
Every tenth man was sick — a hundred men were on the 



24 

sick-list at a time. Five died in a single night ; it was a 
cold and stormy night, and it blasted some of the weaker 
ones in an hour. For a month scarcely a day passed that 
the Dead March did not lead us to a fresh grave. We could 
not procure hospital accommodations for them, and many 
were obliged to lie in quarters, and perhaps endanger the 
health of others. It cannot be shown that any one was 
responsible for this large sick-list. Surgeon Child said 
there was an epidemic. If it arose from the location, other 
regiments were as unfortunate as we, although they were 
deemed to be in better positions, that is, more healthy local- 
ities. So no serious attempt was ever made to change the 
camp for one less sheltered from the sun and for a less time 
during the day shrouded in fog. Somehow it seemed to be 
a time in the period of our acclimation for many of the men 
to die. It was a sort of inurmg period — a crisis in which 
the physical constitution was passing from that of a com- 
mon man, unaccustomed to unusual exposure, to a tough- 
ened soldier. If this is a possible theory, the metamorphosis 
was too tough for many of them to bear. There was one 
case, and it is said there were many similar cases about 
this time, such as I never heard of before. Medical records 
may fvirnish many such cases. One young man died whom 
the surgeons declared had not a single symptom of disease 
about him. His conduct was strange and pitiable. His 
name was Frederic D.Whipple, of Company H. He came 
up to surgeon's-call, and one of the surgeons, after thor- 
oughly examining him and discovering no signs of disease, 
asked him why he was there? — what ailed him? He said 
that he wanted to go home. His orderly-sergeant could do 
nothing with him in his company, and he was finally put 
into the Hospital, where, refusing to be nursed, after a few 
days he died, moaning piteously all the time, " I want to go 
home — I want to go home." Poor fellow ! Just before 



25 

enlisting he had married a young wife, and his body was 
sent to her after his spirit had gone to its long home. Sur- 
geon Clark declared that it was a clear case of nostalgia. 

While here we were brigaded with the Thirty-ninth 
Massachusetts, Twenty-third Maine, and Fourteenth New 
Hampshire Regiments, and put under command of Briga- 
dier-General Grover. These regiments were scattered about 
up and down the river, and thrown back into the country, 
guarding the cross-roads. 

On the thirteenth of November, General Grover having 
been assigned to some other command, Colonel Davis, of 
the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, coming into command of 
the brigade, assembled all his regiments at Ofllit's Cross- 
Roads, within fifteen miles of Washington, where we re- 
mained until the twenty-first of December, doing little else 
except practice in company drill, take care of the sick, and 
bury the dead. 

The scourge of death which had been upon us at Seneca 
Creek followed us to this place, and twenty-five died in five 
weeks, although we were on high ground in the open field, 
well sheltered with tents, and vmder good police regulations. 
But many of the men were thoroughly disheartened, so 
many of their comrades had died ; many began to think 
tliat they were certainly doomed to the same fate. One 
half of the ofiicers were also sick, and some of them had 
become so completely discouraged that their usefulness was 
already at an end. 

The weather was cold and wet; snow had fallen on the 
fifteenth of December, and was piled up in drifts twenty 
inches deep around the tents, but in three days was gone, so 
sudden were the changes. The climate was as coquettish as 
a silly maiden ; sometimes it smiled upon us and then it 
pouted. Little exercise could be taken, and the men had 
too much time to think of themselves ; perhaps they 
were too much disposed to magnify the evils of their con- 
3 



26 



dition, and too willing to conjure up the ghosts of misery. 
They had not yet learned to be soldiers, nor had they the 
opportunity. 

The time soon came, however, when this cloud of 
despair, which sat visibly upon the faces of many, began to 
break away. It came about on Thanksgiving Day, which 
occurred that year in Vermont on the fourth of December, 
and of course at the same time in our camp, in Maryland. 
Some of the simplest and some of the most uncouth, or at 
least grotesque, amusements were the means of this change. 
All who were able to stand engaged in some one of them, 
and from that hour began the improvement of our sanitary 
condition. Every man's blood was stirred, and we soon 
ilearned.that we had not forgotten how to laugh or to shout, 
and we did both lustily. The day was charmingly beauti- 
ful, one of those golden Indian summer days, such as are 
frequently seen in the more southern of the Middle States, 
as late as December. The sun came out at first so dry and 
warm that it absorbed all the frost from the air and earth, 
and then seemed like a sponge filled with hot water, leaking 
down upon us all day through a misty sheen, and departed 
at night in the red glory of a conqueror. 

The amusements began by a grand game of foot-ball, 
some participating in the game who had been off duty for a 
month, and who thought they might never again be fit for 
duty. One man in particular who had done nothing for 
several weeks but to attend "surgeon's call" and then re- 
turn to his tent, to inope the days and weeks away, became 
conspicuous in the play. He came to Surgeon Rutherford's 
tent, having thought himself too weak to walk two hundred 
yards further on to the Dispensary, where the sick in quar- 
ters were treated, and asked for a prescription. He came 
bent half double, leaning upon a stick, one of the most woe- 
begone looking creatures ever beheld. The surgeon threw 
him down a foot-ball and told him to kick that. The fellow 



27 

was amazed, and said that he could not do it. But he did, 
and before noon he was observed as a tolerably active sol- 
dier — alive and kicking. 

We had a foot race, and a shooting match with revolv- 
ers. But the most grotesque thing of all was a hog race. 
Colonels Jewett and Henry purchased a shoat weighing 
about two hundred and fifty pounds — a real razor-back 
racer, yet in very good condition. This shoat was thor- 
oughly greased, and let loose for any man to catch who 
chose to enter the contest and nui the risk of greasing him- 
self. The man who should succeed in catching him, and 
should hold him till the pig said die, was to receive a 
bounty of one dollar, while the porker should belong to the 
company that furnished the successful pursuer. All things 
ready, away went the slushed pig and a hundred men 
shouting in pursuit, the rest looking and cheering on. 
At first the bristling quadruped was bewildered ; he ap- 
peared to think that they meant to drive him, and swine like 
he stood at bay and faced the noisy multitude. But he saw 
death in their eyes, and away he went on a race for life. 
Betting was brisk, with odds on the pig. Two men led in 
the pursuit, and nothing daunted the rest pressed on, making 
up in shouts what they lacked in pace. Now one came so 
near as to clutch at him ; down went the man sprawling on 
the ground, and off" again went the greasy monster. Soon 
he turned, as if t© lead his pursuers in a circle. Alas ! it 
was a fixtal turn, for that moment he was a dead hog. The 
foremost man struck him in the flank, and he rolled over, 
with his four pedal extremities erect in the air, all sanded 
for two men to grasp and hold firmly, which they did, both 
at the same time. 

The bounty was divided equally between the captors, 
and veiy soon the pig was in twain. One half went to 
Company F, and the other to Company A. But he was not 
eaten at once, and it was currently reported that A stole F's 



28 



half at night. Doubtless they preferred to go the whole 
hog. 

After the racing was all over, the field and staff' officers 
entertained the line officers at a Thanksgiving dinner in real 
New England style. We had roast turkey and plum pud- 
ding, vegetables, sauce and jellies. I doubt if the caterer 
can tell where they all came from. But it was home-like. 
Three ladies, wives of officers, then in camp, were present. 
The occasion was one to be remembered by all who partici- 
pated in the sports of the day, or in any way observed this 
time-honored festival. 

Little else occurred in this camp which can be noticed 
here. 

On the night of the fifteenth of November, Colonel Da- 
vis, commanding the brigade, was warned of the approach 
of White's Guerrillas, and he ordered off" a company from 
each regiment to look after them. Company B was detailed 
from the Tenth. On the twenty-ninth. Companies B and H 
went to Rockville, on the same business, under command of 
Charles G. Chandler, who had just been promoted to the 
majority. On the twenty-first of December, the whole bri- 
gade was marched to Pooleville, once a thriving village 
about thirty miles from Washington, but now somewhat 
depopulated, and showing everywhere the ravages of war. 
Here the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts and the Fourteenth 
New Hampshire were encamped, while the Twenty-third 
Maine went below to picket the river, and the Tenth Ver- 
mont above to do the same duty. 

We were separated into three divisions — the centre, 
with Companies C, E, H and I, stationed at White's Ford ; 
the right wing, Companies A, F and D, under command of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry, at the mouth of the Monocacy 
River, to guard the canal aqueduct passing over that stream ; 
and the left wing, Companies B, G and K, under the com- 
mand of Major Chandler, at Conrad's Ferry. 



29 

On the night of our arrival, cold, hungry and weary, 
report said that the rebels were crossing the river. Such a 
report disturbed us more in these days than ever afterwards, 
for the men had not yet seen a rebel, and few of the officers 
had been formally introduced to one. A troop of White's 
Guerrillas no doubt had watched our movements and under- 
took to cross and surprise us ; but a heavy guard had already 
been sent down to the ford, vmder Captain Hunt, and they 
discovered it in season to avoid the warm reception he was 
cautiously waiting to give them. 

Here we spent the remainder of the winter of 1862-3, 
guarding a line of the river five miles long, with little to 
vary the scene except such things as naturally suggest them- 
selves to men in our situation. We visited from post to post, 
got acquainted with our neighbors, the inhabitants around us, 
and killed the time as best we could. The men made wooden 
pipes, and carried on quite a traffic in them with the smok- 
ers ; and engaged in other light occupation, which other 
occupation ivas not altogether confined to the men. All 
who chose to do so, to the number that came within limits 
of special orders, went home on furlough. Most of the 
officers also went away for ten or twenty days at a time, on 
leave of absence. And so the time passed until the middle 
of April, not altogether unprofitably. All the books that 
could be found were thoroughly read. Shakspeare had 
some improved readings. The Paymaster — the best of all 
masters — came, and so long as the rebels came not, we 
were measurably content. 

Here Colonel Jewett succeeded to the command of the 
brigade. But none of the troops were moved until the 
nineteenth of April, when the brigade was again concen- 
trated at Pooleville. Still some of the troops wxre scattered 
along the river in small detachments as before. Two com- 
panies of our regiment remained at White's Ford, under 
command of Captain Sheldon ; two at the mouth of the 



30 

Monocacy, under command of Captain Piatt ; and one, 
Captain Salisbury's, at Conrad's Feny. 

Soon after we came here the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts 
left the brigade and went off to Washington, and was soon 
sent to Virginia. The Fourteenth New Hampshire also 
went to Washington, and had a very soft time of it all sum- 
mer. Only the Twenty-third Maine, the Tenth Massachu- 
setts Battery, one battalion of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, 
and " Scott's nine hundred," remained with us. We en- 
camped a short distance from the village of Pooleville, and 
named the camp in honor of the General Officer command- 
ing the defences of Washington — Heintzelman. 

Around this camp cluster some of the pleasantest mem- 
ories of our militaiy experience. It was a beautiful place. 
We found the citizens kind neighbors, and we were here 
during the most delightful season of the year. Few men 
were sick, and their duties were light and the Paymaster 
came often. The hazy atmosphere that marks the spring 
and fall of that climate, was in most agreeable contrast with 
our own more northern latitude, and though possessing less 
vitality, the light winds bore up the fragrance of green and 
flowei^ing fields and budding woods, while now they whis- 
pered none other than messages of peace. We were strangers 
to war, and for four months life was one heydey of listless, 
almost idle, pleasure. Only once were we jostled out of our 
equanimity. 

On the night of the eleventh of June, two hundred and 
fifty " Rebs " crossed the river at Muddy Branch, came up 
to Seneca Lock, and surprised a troop of the Sixth Michi- 
gan Cavalry, belonging to our coinmand, drove them away, 
burned their camp and pursued them to Seneca Mills, a dis- 
tance of a mile or more, when Captain Dean, in command 
of the squad, with less than thirty men, disputed their pass- 
age of the bridge over the creek at that place. A part of 
the rebels finally crossed the stream below the mills, and the 



31 

brave band was routed, after killing six of the enemy, two 
of their officers, and losing four of their own men. The rest 
succeeded in getting away, and came foaming into head- 
quarters about four o'clock in the morning. The command 
was immediately turned out to meet the enemy, should he 
venture further. But he came no further, and we soon 
ascertained that he had recrossed the river and gone the 
way he came. But he lurked on the opposite bank for sev- 
eral days, and we did not know but the days of our peace 
were numbered. Well we might think so. These " rough 
riders" were a part of J. E. B. Stuart's command, leading 
Lee's advance into Maryland and Pennsylvania. 

We had heard of the battle of Beverly Ford, on the 
Rappahannock, by General Pleasanton, on the fourth instant. 
We soon heard of Milroy's tardy and disastrous retreat from 
Winchester, on the fifteenth, and knew, with all the world, 
that the whole rebel army was far to the north of us. Now 
the advance of the Army of the Potomac from Falmouth, in 
pursuit, made its appearance at Edwards Feriy. Some of 
us went over there, and heard from the lips of the soldiers 
the stories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Every 
man of the regiment, I doubt not, though measurably secui'e 
in the defences of Washington, and not called upon to en- 
dure the trials incident to operations in the field, longed to 
join the glorious army and go with his comrades to meet 
the invading foe.' Willingly would they leave this place, 
dismiss this quiet, and march shoulder to shoulder with the 
men of that army who had done so much to deserve the 
gratitude of the nation. Those who had been our neigh- 
bors at home, now in other regiments from the State, had 
distinguished themselves in a score of battles, while we had 
been almost idle on the north bank of the Potomac, and had 
never yet smelt powder. There was no disgrace in all this, 
for we were soldiers of the Union and did what the Govern- 
ment required of us, but had the question, whether we 



32 

would go with this army to its hardships and, we hoped, 
victories, been left for us to decide, we should have said go. 
But the question was not left for us to decide, nor were we 
long kept in suspense. 



33 



CHAPTER III. 

WE received orders from General Hooker, on the 
twenty-second of June, directing us to report at 
once at Harper's Ferry. We immediately prepared to 
march, and on the evening of the twenty-fourth moved 
away from Camp Heintzelman and this part of Maryland, 
forever. 

The place had become endeared to us by many pleasant 
memories and some very agreeable associations. Many of 
the citizens came out to bid us farewell, and some, no doubt, 
to bid us fare-ill — glad to see the form of a Union soldier 
only in retreat, or in death. As we joassed the house of 
one, Mr. Pleasant, a Qiiaker family, and of Mr. Trundel, 
a Roman Catholic family, old and young bid us tearful 
adieux. The doors and hearts of these families had ever 
been open to us. The Tenth Vermont, and members of 
other Union regiments, too, no doubt, were ever made wel- 
come, and while partaking of their hospitality and sharing 
their friendship, we forgot the privations of the camp. At 
the house of the former, the wife of one of our non-commis- 
sioned officers was a long time sick, and she died there. 
During the winter of our stay in that vicinity, Mr. Trundel 
died. In his sickness our surgeons often attended him, and 
were unremitting in their efforts to mitigate his suffierings, 
and there was nothing which the family would not do for 
us. To leave them was like parting with friends. They 
told us we should never return, for no regiment going up to 
Harper's Ferry, and so off' to join the Army of the Poto- 
mac, had ever come back again, to remain. They told the 



34 

truth. Whatever may be the changes we shall all meet in life, 
and whithersoever led by a mysterious and wise Providence, 
though many of their friends were naturally, once, our ene- 
mies", we shall all remember with gratitude the family of 
Jesse Trundel. 

We reached Harper's Ferry on the morning of the 
tv\renty-sixth, and went into camp on Maryland Heights. 
We were halted for the first day upon a narrow plateau half 
way up the mountain, but were afterwards sent up near the 
summit, where the ground was so steep that we had to cling 
to the bushes to keep from rolling down. Here we lay four 
days, and it rained all the time. 

Maryland Heights were very strongly fortified. There 
were two or three forts and several batteries of large guns ; 
one sat upon the summit, where, like a dog upon his mas- 
tei-'s doorstep, it guarded the countiy for miles around. The 
garrison consisted of the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery', 
One Hundred and Fifty-first New York, Tenth Vermont, 
Sixth Michigan, a part of the Fourteenth New Jersey, and 
detachments of regiments and fragments of batteries from 
the unfortunate command of General Milroy — in all per- 
haps ten thousand troops. Brigadier-General Tyler was in 
command, but was very soon superseded by Major-General 
French. While here. General Hooker came to Harper's 
Ferry, — just then, as he said, fighting the War Department 
eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, and the rebels the 
other six. He wanted this force to join his army ; Halleck 
refused ; and just below, at Sandy Hook, General Hooker 
wrote to Halleck, asking to be relieved from the command 
of the Army of the Potomac. 

The place was evacuated on the thirtieth of June. The 
forts were dismantled, and the ordnance stores sent to 
Washington. A magazine to one of the forts accidentally 
blew up, with a terrific explosion, scattering fragments of 
shell and the debris of the works far around. A large 



35 

quantity of ammunition was destroyed, a score of men from 
the Sixth Maryland were killed ; some of them were skinned 
alive ; others were thrown with fearful velocity over the 
brow of the mountain, and hurled down the cliffs, masses of 
broken bones and bruised flesh. Pieces of flying timbers, 
iron and stone, came down among us, as we stood in col- 
lunn, near enough to be shaken by the shock, and enveloped 
in the settling smoke and cinders. An hour later we were 
off" to Frederick, and Maryland Heights were not occupied 
again during the war, except once by General Sigel a few 
hours for safety. 

At Frederick we were brigaded with the Sixth New 
York Heavy Artilleiy, One Hundred and Fifty-first New 
York, and Fourteenth New Jersey, under command of 
General Morris, and attached to a division commanded b}- 
General French. 

Next day (July 2d) we were detached temporarily and 
sent with the Tenth Massachusetts Battery and a battalion 
of the Fourteenth Massachusetts Infantry, all commanded 
by Colonel Jewett, to Monocacy Junction, to guard the rail- 
road bridge, while the rest of the brigade went to Boons- 
boro' Gap, and the army fought the Battle of Gettysburg. 

On the fourth, we again joined the brigade at Cramp- 
ton's Gap, near South Mountain, whither they had come. 
We lay here three or four days, and a part of the regiment 
was detailed to guSrd a number of rebel prisoners and take 
them to Baltimore. These were a thousand or more, sick 
and wounded, with ambulances and baggage wagons, be- 
ing an escort sent from Gettysburg toward Richmond, 
and captured by Kilpatrick in Pennsylvania. Dirty looking 
men they were, the first live rebels we had seen. Some of 
them were badly wounded and in a dying condition. It 
was with a sort of grim pleasure that our men marched 
them oft', such as could move, to the depot, where they put 
them aboard the cars with the sick and wounded, and took 



36 

them to Baltimore. Whether they became interesthig trav- 
ehng companions or not, never transpired. Certain it was 
that the rebels presented our men, and even some of the 
officers, with lively tokens of their esteem, which they car- 
ried about their persons several days after their return to the 
army. One Iiishman observed that these presents were 
" beautiful craturs." 

On the eighth, Major-General French was assigned to 
the command of the Third Army Corps, late General 
Sickles's, and the troops taken from Harper's Ferry were 
attached to that corps as its Third Division, commanded by 
Brigadier-General Elliott. Our brigade was the first of this 
division, and Brigadier-General Montis its commander. 

Prior to this, our ixgiment and the regiments with us 
had acted nearly as an independent command, and had 
thought ourselves capable of creating quite a ripple on the 
great tide of events which as yet we had not seen. Colonel 
Jewett commanded the brigade, and his staff' was mostly 
made up of the Tenth Vermont officers. Now we were 
swallowed up in a vast army, and were only as a drop in 
the mighty wave that was to surge and roll on, until it swept 
Rebellion from the American Continent, and rocked the 
Union till it rested in peace. Let it rest forever. 

To render our own movements more intelligible, and this 
record less pretentious, our history, from this point, must- 
partake more of a general character, and the movements of 
those parts of the army with which our regiment was asso- 
ciated and by which affected, as well as the causes thereof, 
must be partially described. 

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on the first, second 
and third of July, 1863, while we lay at the Monocacy 
bridge. We therefore took no part in that terrible conflict, 
though we were actually guarding the left flank, or at least, 
important points on the left flank and in the rear of the 
army that did fight and win the battle. On the ninth we 



37 

joined the Army of the Potomac, and marched witla it as a 
part of one of its most efficient corps, seven miles towards 
the enemy ; next day, moved three miles further, or rather 
ten miles to get three, and encamped in line of battle near 
Boonsboro', a little to the north. Next morning, Sunday, 
July 1 2th, the troops were ordered to prepare for an imme- 
diate attack upon the enemy ; the order stated that the 
General commanding the army intended an attack. Some 
historians of the war declare that no general attack was 
ordei-ed by General Meade after he left Gettysburg, until 
after Lee was over the river. This is not a history of the 
war, and will not presume to settle the question ; but certain 
it is that Colonel Jewett received an order such as has been 
above referred to, and the whole division advanced and 
maneuvered for more than two hours, and was then drawn 
back to a wheat field near the place we had taken up the 
night before. 

We shuddered at the thought of commencing a battle on 
Sunday. Men said that no battle had proved successful to 
the attacking party when commenced on that day, in the 
whole experience of this army. Some who ought to know 
have affirmed that this is universally true, and that the whole 
history of military records is not sufficient to disprove this 
obsei"vation. At any rate, rough-speaking, irreligious men, 
who were not afraid to fight at any time, did not want a 
battle begun in earnest at a time the civilized nation deemed 
holy. We did not fight. The whole division lay in this 
field through the remainder of this day and the next. On 
the fourteenth we were put in line of battle again, three 
hundred yards in front of the camp, on the margin of a 
piece of woods, where we stood several hours, and then 
advanced hurriedly, past the enemy's deserted position, to 
within four miles of Williamsport. We stayed here only 
one night, and without yet seeing a rebel. They had all 
gone over the river. Of the splendid army that left Vir- 



38 

ginia to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania with such high 
hopes and promises of victory and its spoils, forty-six thous- 
and were dead, wounded, or prisoners, and all except eight 
thousand of this number, wounded, which Lee had taken 
away, were thrust out of the contest beyond hope of return. 
The next day we had a cruel march from Williamsport to 
Sharpsburg. The distance may not be over fifteen miles, 
but we accomplished it in three or four hours. It was a 
terribly hot day — a kind of oppressive, sickly heat — to be- 
gin with, over muddy and slippery roads, and finally the 
sun came out, scorching, blinding hot. A large number of 
the men fell out by the way, overcome and exhausted ; 
many sufl"ered from sunstroke, and some died in consequence. 
It is reported that twenty men thus died from the Third 
Corps. Our brigade came to a halt just beyond Sharps- 
burg, about two o'clock P. M., with scarcely a good-sized 
battalion. Some of the companies could not make a stack 
of muskets ; the rest were scattered by the way, under the 
shadow of fences, by the banks of some cool stream ; many 
suffering with blistered and galled feet, and others dying, 
half way back to Williamsport. The Sixth New York, 
taken from the fortifications at Harper's Ferry two weeks 
before, came into camp with only the color guard. 

But we cannot follow this army and note its steps from 
day to day. We crossed the Potomac and Shenandoah 
rivers on the night of the seventeenth, passed over into the 
Loudon Valley, and marched by Snickersville, Lovetsville, 
Upperville, Union and Salem, to Warrenton. At Piedmont 
Station our regiment was detailed to guard an ammunition 
train, while the rest of the corps, all of which had been 
hastened on from Ashby's Gap, were sent up into Manas- 
sas Gap, w^here a rebel force had taken up a strong position, 
and, as was supposed, threatened to come down upon us. 
The First Division, General Birney's, pushed through the 
Gap and attacked ; but one brigade. General Spinola's, did 



39 

all the fighting, while the rest did some maneuvering and 
looked on. We were a mile away, in plain view of the 
fight, guarding the train. On this detour our men and 
horses suffered terribly for want of food and forage. Some 
of the men were out of rations, and they offered the lucky 
comrade who had some a dollar a piece for hard tack. 
There never was a more destitute and barren place. We 
were near the village of jSIarkham, on the Manassas Gap 
Railroad, but it was a perfect Horeb, with no prophet near 
to command the supplies w^e needed. Some of the men did 
confiscate a hive of bees — of bees indeed, for there was not 
honey enough to decently smear certain officers' faces, as 
they stumbled over them and dropped it on to their heads, 
while taking it to their quarters. It was a long time before 
Captain Piatt, of Company F, was quite forgiven for making 
such a rumpus in camp that night, just because some care- 
less men set a hive of bees on his stomach. The field and 
staff" mess at one moment seemed to be more favored than 
the children of Israel in the desert, when such an abundance 
of quails were driven into their camp. We obtained what 
appeared to be a fine fowl and some eggs, but the pur- 
chase turned out to be an old setting hen and her nest. 
After boiling her from the going down of the sun to the ris- 
ing thereof, she was too tough for breakfast. 

It was now the twentj'-third of July ; on the twenty-sixth 
we reached Warreaton, a beautiful old town, embowered 
amidst great arching elms ; it must have been a thriving 
place before the war, but it is now somewhat dilapidated. 
We marched through the place with ffags flying, and bands 
playing the " Star Spangled Banner " and '' Yankee Doodle." 
The inhabitants that still remained, mostly a few old men, 
and women of all ages, looked sad and sorrowful, and were 
very poorly clad. Some young ladies, dressed in rusty 
black, no doubt for some brother or lover, looked the very 
picture of despair. Others with some cheap attempt at 



40 

style in their dress, had an appearance of contempt and 
defiant scorn of Yankees that was really refreshing. The 
colored people danced to our music and sang for joy, 
shouting, "Massa Linkum's sojers hab cum agin. Old 
massa say all killed up to Gettumsburg. Golly ! guess 
'nough left yet." 

Two miles beyond the town we halted five days, pitched 
our tents in a pine wood, and rested joyfully in the shade. 
We had been marching in the hot sun, and the rains that 
seemed hot, every day since the battle of Gettysburg, 
pushing up into the mountain gaps expecting to fight the 
retreating rebels if they could possibly be overtaken. No 
man should say even at this day, that they were not pursued 
with the uttermost vigor and determination. True, along 
the mountain range, between the armies moving in parallel 
lines in the same direction, were many gaps, through which 
armies had passed ; but because they were moving in the 
same direction, and making about the same time, rendered 
an attack from either side extremely difficult. As, for in- 
stance, at Manassas Gap, before referred to : a force of the 
enemy appeared there, and the third corps was sent to drive 
them out, while the whole army was halted two days. It 
turned out afterwards that a brigade of Ewell's men were 
holding the Gap so that we might not venture up and look 
through to see the rear guard of the rebel army hurrying 
past, which they were doing at this time. This gave Lee 
an opportunity to go round our right flank, which he did, 
and showed his dirty rebel rags in our front when we came 
to the Rappahannock. So much may be said of the com- 
plaint made against General Meade because he did not 
bring Lee to an engagement before he got behind a river. 
A river was not so bad as a range of mountains with diffi- 
cult passes. The time to have engaged Lee, after Gettys- 
burg, was at Williamsport. Our march now became less 
hurried ; hence the five days' halt just below Warrenton. 



41 

Certainly we needed rest, and no doubt often thought of 
our quiet camps away on the Potomac. 

But the summer campaign was at an end, and we had 
onh' stopped here while those whose business it was could 
look out a suitable defensive position to hold while the army 
gathered up its strength for another struggle in the fall. 

On the first of August we moved away, and the Tenth 
took position at Rout's Hill, about two miles from the 
famous Sulphur Springs, and about the same distance from 
Bealton Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. 
The army stretched from Sulphur Springs to Kelly's Ford, 
on the Rappahannock. Our duties were light. Detach- 
ments only were sent out to guard Fox's Ford, abreast of 
our part of the line. Here our men said that they fought 
one of the most sanguinary battles of the war — with mos- 
quitos ; but not one of these pestiferous creatures was heard 
in camp. 

For five weeks we lay in this position, apparently idle, but 
the forces that create and strengthen armies were not idle. 
The sick and exliausted by long marches, and those slightly 
wounded in battle were all recovering. The convalescents- 
in and around the hospitals at Washington and throughout 
the Free States, were crowded out by the wounded borne in 
from the field of Gettysburg, and sent to fill the ranks that 
that terrible conflict had decimated. Recruiting was act- 
ively going on in all the Northern States. 

Colonel Jewett, Captains Hunt and Sheldon, Adjutant 
Lyman, and several enlisted men, left the regiment on the 
twenty-eighth of July, and were away more than two 
months, gathering those recruits in ^''ermont, and forward- 
ing them to the various regiments in the field. Large num- 
bers of officers belonging to other States were also away on 
this duty, many on sick leave, and some on leave of absence. 
Indeed, so many were away that Lieutenant-Colonels and 
Majors commanded brigades. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry,, 
4 



42 

of the Tenth, commanded our brigade at this place for sev- 
eral days. The men were recovering from the effects of 
exhausting marches, exposure and short rations, gaining 
strength and increasing somew^hat in numbers. 

Here the regiment w^as paid off. The sutler came and 
immediately returned, for his stock w^as exhausted in an 
hour. The men drevs^ clothing, overcoats and blankets, 
many of which had been thrown away or lost in the toil- 
some marches of July ; a supply of shoes was issued, and 
such ordnance stores as were needed. 

The sixth of August was special Thanksgiving Day, 
appointed by the President on account of the recent victories 
,at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 

On the seventh of September, the Third Corps was 
reviewed by General Meade. All reviews are mere scenic 
displays. This was a splendid corps, and as such the exhi- 
bition was good. Our division made a striking appearance 
in contrast with some of the older ones. It was large, and 
most ©f the men had seen little service except marching and 
reviews. Jn their new blue uniforms and shining muskets, 
with full ranks and splendid drill, it was not strange that 
General French should have felt proud of us, or that some 
of the older soldiers, who had been put to harder work, 
should have called us " French's pets." None of the regi- 
ments of our brigade had yet fought a battle, although all of 
them had been a year in the field ; they had often been put 
in line of battle, with skirmishers thrown out — had as good 
as looked death in the face a score of times — but the order, 
stern as fate, advance^ coupling with it death or victory, had 
never yet in those expectant moments been given. Hence 
our ranks were full. The Tenth had nearly nine hundred 
men, the One Hundred and Fifty-first New York as many 
more, the Fourteenth New Jersey eight hundred, and the 
Sixth New York must have had eleven hundred. A brigade 
in the field at that period of the war was considered large if 



43 

it numbered two thousand men. Ours had near four thous- 
and. Other corps were also reviewed about this time. It 
all meant another onward movement, and it soon com- 
menced. 

Our cavalry crossed the Rappahannock on the thir- 
teenth, and were immediately engaged by J. E. B. Stuart, 
whom they drove back and pushed over the Rapidan. On 
the fifteenth the rest of the army moved, and next night, no 
doubt, all slept between the two rivers, while the enemy 
lay just across the Rapidan. Our brigade, after marching 
three or four miles in the wrong direction, and wandering 
about half of the night, crossed at Freeman's Ford. Next 
day, after marching a short distance in column, we formed 
in line of battle, and so advanced three miles, when we 
halted, still preserving this formation, on the Springxille and 
Culpepper pike, two miles southwest of Culpepper. We 
supposed that we were to stay here only till our position 
could be reconnoitered in front, and then move on or pre- 
pare for defence, as the case might be. It finally turned out 
to have been the pui'pose of General Meade to inove over 
the Rapidan at once, and there offer battle, or follow the 
enemy should he decline. But while preparing to do so, 
the War Department ordered him to detach the Eleventh 
and Twelfth Coi'ps, in order that they might be sent to 
Chattanooga, to aid General Rosecrans, who had just 
fought with partial ill success the battle of Chickamauga. 
This no doubt suspended the proposed advance, and we 
stayed here twenty-three days, were paid for the months of 
July and August, and put ourselves into comfortable shape, 
building shanties of boards, and fire-places of stones and 
sods, thinking possibly that we might spend the winter 
here. It was with remarkable facility that the men would 
build themselves a comfortable abode. There was a large 
barn near by, almost in the midst of our camp, and sev- 
eral smaller ones not far away, and tliey were all speedily 



44 

torn down and constructed into walls, floors, and bunks 
for the soldier's cabins. Miraculously sudden would these 
barns, and even houses, disappear, when the men thought 
they had a right to them. Rail fences met with the same 
fate ; each man would take a rail, and the fence was gone. 
Many a time have we seen fifty rods vanish as quickly as 
one man could pick up a rail. Let an army corps halt in a 
forty-acre lot, enclosed with a wooden fence, and fifteen 
minutes later the rails would be in ashes and in embers, and 
twenty thousand men drinking coffee that had been cooked 
by the fire they had made. 

On the tenth of October the troops were suddenly called 
to arms by the beating of the long roll, ordered out of 
their quarters and advanced in line of battle a mile in front 
of the camp. They were soon summoned back, however, 
and ordered to " pack up." We then moved about three 
miles to the south and left, marching very slowly and cau- 
tiously, and at dark bivouacked in the edge of a piece of 
woods. At nine o'clock same evening we were ordered out 
again, with instructions to move behind the line we had 
occupied for three weeks, but the order was soon suspended 
till four o'clock next morning. It turned out to be a retreat 
of the whole army, and we retraced our steps to Freeman's 
Ford, its rear guard. Parts of the division skirmished with 
the enemy while going doggedly back, and once or twice 
the whole corps was formed into line of battle, so close did 
the enemy follow upon our heels. Crossing the river, we 
passed near Warrenton, through Greenwich, down past 
Bristow Station, across the plains of Manassas up to the 
heights of Centreville. This retreat evidently was a race 
between the two armies for the position we gained first. 
It was taken for the most part deliberately. Only for one 
day did there seem to be a forced march ; then we made 
thirty miles, moving at four o'clock in the morning and 
halting at twelve o'clock, midnight. At noon that day we 



45 

found a detachment of the enemy near Warrenton, whom 
we drove out of the way after he had discharged several 
volleys into the head of our column. General French was 
riding along at the head of his troops, accompanied by his 
staff' and some of his division commanders, when a party of 
rebel cavalry dashed up over a hill and fired into him, killing 
several of his orderlies and wounding others. Sleeper's 
Battery, Tenth Massachusetts, close at hand, and the Tenth 
Vermont, were ordered up at once, but we were not needed, 
for a few rounds from the battery soon dispersed them. 
The old General did not budge an inch, but sat on his horse 
when we passed him, brushing away the bullets with his 
hand as he would have brushed aw^ay flies, saying to us, 
" Shoot 'em, damn 'em, shoot 'enl ! " 

Not yet quite sure, it seems, that the rebel army was all 
in pursuit, the Second, Fifth and Sixth Corps were sent back 
across the Rappahannock that very day, as far as Brandy 
Station, and Buford's Cavalry as far as Culpepper, to watch 
its movements. That very day, also, Lee crossed in heavy 
force at Sulphur Springs, and headed his columns towards 
Warrenton and Alanassas. Both retreat and pursuit became 
a little more earnest. On the fourteenth, after marching 
from Greenwich to within four or five miles of Centreville, 
just across Broad Run, which the men waded waist deep, 
about four o'clock, as we supposed we were going into camp 
for the night, we Were startled by heavy firing in the rear. 
It was from A. P. Hill's corps, as we aftei-w^ards learned, 
that had that morning marched from Warrenton, and had 
fallen into the rear of the Third Corps, and thus summoned 
us to about face. But General Warren's Second Corps cov- 
ering the retreat that day, and being considerably behind 
upon a road leading obliquely into the one we were pursuing, 
at that moment came upon Hill's rear. Hill had got between 
the Second and Third Corps, but as soon as he discovered 
Warren behind him immediately turned about to pay his 



46 

compliments to that gentleman. Of course everybody was 
surprised, and there was a spirited engagement for two 
hours. We were at once about faced and moved back at a 
double quick towards the scene of action. But the gallant 
Warren did not need our help. Hill was badly worsted, 
and the battle of Bristow Station was fought and won before 
we reached the field. 

The pursuit of the enemy was at an end. Though he 
claimed to have occupied Fairfax Court House, he did not 
come an inch beyond his slaughtered hundreds at Bristow, 
nor did he stop there to bury them. We saw nothing more 
of him this side of the Rappahannock until we moved back 
again, except a brigade of Stuart's Cavalry that looked at 
us, a little way south of Union Mills, and burst a dozen 
shells or so in front of our brigade lines. 

Lee at once retreated, and on the nineteenth it became 
our turn to pursue. He took the line of the Orange and 
Alexandria Railroad, and destroyed every foot of it from 
Bristow to the Rappahannock. Stonewall Jackson had 
taught him and us how to make this work of destruction 
complete. A regiment or brigade, sometimes, perhaps, a 
division, would take their stand along one side of the track, 
hand to hand, and then, with one strong pull altogether, 
they would turn a mile of the track up side down at once. 
They would then knock oft' the sleepers, pile them up cob- 
house fashion, balance the rails across them and set fire to 
the w^ood. The rails thus becoming heated in the middle, 
would bend of their own accord, and render themselves 
useless. The rebels amused theinselves by twisting some 
of the iron around trees, fairly hooping them with it, where 
we found it when the advance was made. 

This road was immediately put in repair. Heavy details 
were made from the Tenth, as from other regiments, to cut 
sleepers, put them down, and re-lay the track. Officers 
without much experience in railroad building superintended 



47 

the work. To do this the army was moved frequently, and 
short distances at a time. The weather was cold, and no 
quarters could be made comfortable before we were obliged 
to leave them. It was doubtless all necessary, and, as the 
men used to say, "all in the three years." 

In nineteen days we had built thirty- miles of railroad, 
and on the seventh of November again faced the rebel army, 
sti-ongly posted and fortified on the right and left banks of 
the Rappahannock. He was soon driven across and away. 
The Second and Third Corps, under command of General 
French, advanced to Kelly's Ford and put down a pontoon 
liridge under the fire of our own guns. De Trobriand's 
brigade, preceded by Colonel Homer R. Stoughton's Sharp- 
shooters, was thrown over, and at once dashing into the 
enemy's rifle-pits, captured a regiment. At the same time a 
larger force posted in the woods beyond were dispersed by 
our guns shelling right over the heads of the advancing 
column. Our brigade supported these batteries on the left 
bank of the river, our regiment lying behind a battery of 
Rodman guns, belonging to the Second Connecticut Heavy 
Artillery. The whole corps crossed over after dark, and 
slept on the field we had won, tumbling over the rebel dead 
as in the darkness we sought a place to rest. 

Next morning we advanced up the river towards the 
railroad, when we learned that the Fifth and Sixth Corps, 
the day before, at the same time of our movement below, 
had advanced at Rappahannock Station, where the enemy 
held two redoubts with as many brigades, and at the same 
time covered a pontoon bridge in their rear. Parts of the 
Sixth Corps moved to the flank of the works, while the First 
Brigade of the First Division assaulted in front, supported 
by a part of the Second. They captured with the works six- 
teen hundred prisoners, seven stands of colors, four heavy 
guns and three thousand small arms, besides the pontoon 
bridge. 



48 

It is well remembered with what heroic daring the Sixth 
Maine regiment led the assault upon this position. Twenty- 
three veteran officers and three hundred and fifty men went 
to the attack, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Harris, who was 
killed, and all but seven of these officers fell, with one hun- 
dred and twenty-three of their men. The Fifth Maine 
worked as heroically and paid a sacrifice as costly. The 
same night that we crossed over we heard Lee's locomotives 
whistling and puffing out of Brandy Station and Culpepper 
all night, whither we pursued next day, meeting with little 
opposition. So close was the pursuit that we saw his rear 
guard going out of sight in a manner that the soldiers called 
"dusting." A stubborn battery would now and then throw 
a shell at us as we pushed up too close. Some of them 
burst with ringing vengeance over our ranks, or settled down 
with an angry thud at our feet ; but all was not enough to 
interrupt the shouts we sent after them. On the night of 
the eighth, Lee's army slept beyond the Rapidan ; we at 
Brandy Station and beyond, almost down to the Fords. 
Here and about here we stayed until the twenty-third. 
Meade was building the bridge over the Rappahannock and 
establishing a depot of supplies. 

While here, our brigade had what "we called a mud cam- 
paign. It was a movement out four miles towards Cul- 
pepper, or about half way across John Minor Botts's farm. 
We started on a dark, rainy night and marched twelve miles 
to get four, over almost impassable corduroy roads that had 
been half torn up. The night was intensely dark, and 
seemed darker by occasional blinding, almost bewildering, 
flashes of lightning. Men fell down and were in danger of 
being trampled out of sight in the mud ; horses floundered 
and threw their riders. With such sliding and tumbling 
it seemed, while bending over the slippery earth to brace 
against the vigor of the storm, that we should be smothered 
in the mud. Arriving at our destination we lay down upon 



49 

the wet leaves of the woods, supperless and drenched to the 
skin. We came here on the fourteenth, and stayed a week 
in the vicinity, changing camp three times in the meantime, 
not seeing why, nor could we know the cause. 

On the twenty-sixth, the whole army advanced once 
more. Our brigade started at seven o'clock in the morning 
and crossed the Rapidan on a pontoon bridge at sundown, 
near Jacob's Mill. We halted on the high steep bank of the 
river and slept soundly till morning. But many a soldier 
would rest lower, and colder be his bed and deeper be his 
slumbers when the next night should fall. Now wrapped 
in his blanket, the stars looked down through the cold 
night upon him, and he might think of wife and child, and see 
them as they came to him in dreams, but sightless all when 
the stars come again, and he is wrapped in the gory mantle 
that the battle furnishes the brave. This was Thanksgiving 
Day at the North, and the loyal people feasted and fasted, 
while the army marched and fought that they might have 
something to do both for. We were ordered to Robertson's 
Tavern, but the Second Division, General Prince, led and 
misled the corps. General Meade meant to surprise the 
army, but the Third Corps went wrong, some others did not 
go altogether right, and thus destroyed his plan. Next day 
French was ordered to report at Robertson's Tavern, where 
the Second Corps was fighting, and needed him. He started 
to obey the order,'but Ewell's Corps was right in his path 
and interfered with our progress all day. About two 
o'clock P. M., French attacked him with all his might with 
his Second and Third Divisions, the first being held in re- 
serve. Of our division, now commanded by General Carr, 
General Morris's brigade was on the right. Colonel Kifer's 
in the centre, and Colonel Smith's on the left. Of our bri- 
gade, the One Hundred and Fifty-first New York Regiment 
was on the right. Tenth Vermont in the centre, and the 
Fourteenth New Jersey on the left, reaching out to the 



50 

One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio, of Kifer's brigade. 
Company D, Captain Darrah's, were deployed as skirmish- 
ers in front of our regimental line. The rebels had chosen a 
good position behind a fence, on the crest of rising ground ; 
this, also they had otherwise fortified. But strong as this 
position was, our men charged them out of it, under a most 
destructive fire from their heavy lines. With a dash they 
went up to the fence and over it. They had gone too far — 
so far as to lose their supports on either flank. They were 
only ordered to go to the fence, where the other regiment 
halted, but the Vermonters had gone over it. They had to 
come back the best they could, through a terrible cross-fire 
from the right and left, and many a poor fellow never got 
back. Over the fence. Colonel Jewett, by a misunderstand- 
ing of orders, fell back to the original position, but he soon 
re-formed and advanced to the fence, where we remained 
fighting till relieved. 

This was really the first pitched battle of the regiment, 
fought in a tangled forest, against heavy odds and advantage 
in position, but it was highly creditable to the officers and 
men. They were personally complimented by Generals 
French, Carr, and Morris. General MoiTis published com- 
plimentary orders to his brigade. The following extract 
speaks of our regiment : 

" The enemy was holding a fence on the crest of a hill 
in our front. I ordered the Tenth Vermont to charge and 
take it, and the regiment advanced in gallant style and took 
the crest. The left wing in its enthusiasm having advanced 
too far beyond the fence, it was necessary to recall it. * * 
I cannot speak of the conduct of the officers and men with 
too much praise. It was necessary to form the line of bat- 
tle in a thick woods, at the base of a hill, whose summit the 
enemy held, fortified with a breastwork. Though the regi- 
ment had never before been under sharp fire, they behaved 
with the determined bravery and steadiness of veterans." 



51 



At the close he says : 




" I take pleasure in mentioning the following officers 
whose courage and efficiency I personally observed : Colonel 
A. B. Jewett, Major Charles G. Chandler, and Captain 
Samuel Darrah, Tenth Vermont Volunteers." 

The following officers of this regiment on the General's 
staff are mentioned in the same terms ; Lieutenants Gale, 
Hicks and Hill. Other officers of this command certainly 
were deserving of the same praise, but General Morris 
speaks only of those whom he observed^ and it is not usual 
that all the officers of a brigade are under the immediate 
eye of the General. The regiment's losses were, thirteen 
killed and fifty-seven wounded. Captain, afterwards Major, 
Dillingham, acting on General Morris's staff", had his horse 
shot under him while executing an order, and was taken 
prisoner. Lieutenant, afterwards Captain, H. W. Kingsley, 
was severely wounded, and had a narrow escape in getting 
from the field. As his men were bearing him away on a 
stretcher, a shell burst near by, wounding one of the 
stretcher-bearers, and they let the Captain fall to the ground. 
After dark, and the rebels had been driven from the field, we 
went over it, searching from among the dead, dying, and 
wounded, our comrades. In due time we buried the dead, 
wrapped in blankets, the only coffins we could give them, 
and tenderly marked their graves, soon to be blotted out, 
but not forgotten. The wounded were taken to the oper- 
ating table of the surgeon, whose knife it often required 
more courage to encounter than it did the enemy's bullets. 

Next morning at two o'clock the corps advanced by way 
of Robertson's Tavern to Mine Run, behind which Lee had 
retired, and was then fortifying himself. His position was 
a commanding crest just beyond the Run. Meade at once 
formed his lines to attack him. His lines stretched from 
Antioch Court House on the left to Baitley's Mill on the 



52 

right, facing west, six miles long. Our corps was in the 
centre of this long line. The Tenth Regiment was sent to 
support Captain Robinson's Fourth Maine Battery, where in 
plain sight of the Johnnies, we saw them digging like beav- 
ers, throwing up epaulements and strengthening their works 
against our anticipated attack. Skirmishers were thrown 
out and we were put in readiness, and ordered to charge at 
precisely four o'clock ; but for some reason we did not, and 
were finally withdrawn, with the whole division, and sent 
during the night over to the second corps, on the left of the 
line, to support General Warren in a contemplated attack 
at that point. But instead of supporting, we were put in the 
front line, close up under the enemy's guns, where he could 
have blown us all to pieces in a moment. The troops ex- 
pected to move up and assault a fortified hill. The summit 
of this hill was bristling with artillery, and its steep sides 
were covered by abatis and fallen timber. Nothing was 
done, however, except a little skirmishing. The battle of 
Mine Run, which we have heard something about, was 
never fought, nor any other battle, within four miles of there. 
The Third Corps fought at Orange Grove, on the twenty- 
seventh, and the same day the Second Corps, at Robertson's 
Tavern, both sharp fights, but of which little has ever been 
said. 

From all that can be leai-ned, it seems that after our army 
was in position at Mine Run, General Meade ordered a 
battle, the first attack to be made at four o'clock on Sunday, 
the twenty-ninth of November. The ball was to be opened 
by General Warren, who was posted on the extreme left, and 
his guns were to be the signal for a general attack along the 
whole line. But he did not give this signal, and of course 
other parts of the plan failed. The order of attack was 
then slightly changed. Our division and the Second Divi- 
sion were sent to Warren during the night of the twenty- 
ninth, and the signal of attack was to be given by General 



53 

Sedgwick, who was to open with all his guns next morning 
at eight o'clock. To this the other corps commanders were 
to immediately respond, and so make the attack general from 
right to left. Sedgwick blazed away for half an hour, 
formed his lines to assault, and did do a little skirmishing. 
The other commanders, Sykes, Newton and French, who 
had remained in the centre with one division, took up the 
thundering message and bore it along towards the left. But 
Warren now deemed the attack too hazardous to be made 
in his front. Thus the affair ended. 

That night the army was headed towards the Rapidan, 
Our regiment was sent on picket far to the front, close 
up under the rebel works. We were right on an angle 
of his fortifications, shaped like a grindstone crank, lying 
on the ground, with the horizontal parts pointing east and 
west. We w^ere in the long angle that broke back into his 
main line. We could distinctly hear his reveille, their 
ribald songs and their loud conversation. It was curious to 
see their sharpshooters come out with spade and rifle, dig a 
hole about four feet by two, and a foot in depth, throwing 
up the dirt in front ; he then had a rifle pit, in which he 
was completely protected. vSometimes, on both sides, these 
armed gophers would lay their caps upon these miniature 
lunettes, or raise them on the handles of their spades, in 
order to draw the fire and so discover their antagonist. 

We lay here until two o'clock on the morning of Decem- 
ber second, and then silently crept out — so cautiously that 
our steps seemed muffled, so softly we trod the danger- 
ous ground. Ordei's were whispered to the men or given in 
pantomime. The usual rattle of canteens and tin cups was 
mysteriously hushed. We were a ghost of silence. Our 
horses caught the spirit, and trod lightly along the wooded 
road. We passed the spot where w^e had supported Robin- 
son's batter}^ two days before, which had now given place to 
Qiiaker guns, that looked very like the " dogs of w^ar" in 



54 

the pale light of the declining moon. On we moved to 
Germania Ford, the last detachment of the army to cross the 
river. 

The same day v^^e reached Brandy Station, having marched 
twenty-three miles. The campaign was at an end. It had 
already been prolonged into the edge of winter, and the cold 
weather required that it should stop. We w^ent into winter 
quarters near the house of John Minor Botts, our regiment 
occupying a site which a few weeks before had been selected 
by the rebels for their winter quarters, and some of the men 
went into cantonments built by them before we crossed the 
Rappahannock. 



55 



CHAPTER IV. 

VISIONS of a few months' rest now dawned upon us, 
and the prospect of winter quarters — pleasing change 
to the tired soldier — was thought to be close at hand. But 
the vision and the hope soon vanished, as similar prospects 
had so often done before. 

At eight o'clock on the evening of the third, the ringing 
notes of the bugle sounded from every camp. Corps, divi- 
sions and brigades sprang to arms. We, with the rest of 
the troops, hastily tui'ned out, struck tents, packed up, and 
within twenty minutes were ready to move whithersoever 
the emergency demanded. We stood on our arms for hours, 
waiting for further orders, not knowing what they might 
develop, although we sullenly conjectured "Retreat" still 
farther away. It was rumored that the enemy had closely 
followed our retreating column, and were eagerly pressing 
forward to chastise us. But the report turned out to be 
false, and at midnight the marching orders were counter- 
manded and the troops turned in, many sleeping upon the 
ground beneath thexlear, cold sky, rather than again pitch 
their tents. 

On the fourth we began to fit up our quarters in the 
camp referred to at the close of the last chapter. The posi- 
tion on the left of our brigade, assigned to the Tenth, was 
pleasantly chosen. It was a comparatively smooth piece of 
ground, sloping to the south, and backed up by a grove of 
heavy oaks, which, however, the men were not allowed to 
cut down, both on account of the protection they afforded 
from the north wind, and the sturdy loyalty of their owner. 



56 

Along our front was the railroad upon which the cars were 
constantly plying between Brandy Station and Culpepper, 
only a few miles apart. Still nearer the camp, just below 
the company quarters, was a bi-ook, more properly a ditch, 
which supplied the camp with water. This stream was not 
so clear and pure as we had seen, yet the mixture was not 
more than two parts mud to three of water, and when it 
was further diluted with coffee it became a very decent 
beverage. This fact will appear, no doubt, when it is 
further stated that the whole vast plain, which was in part 
drained by this stream, had been the theatre of thirteen 
battles and skirmishes, most of them cavalry engagements, 
after which the combatants had not alwa3'S taken the trouble 
to drag off the carcasses of their dead horses, though it may 
be they had slightly buried the bodies of their fallen com- 
rades. In order to drink this water with a relish we were 
obliged to wait until quite thirsty ; then by closing our eyes, 
shutting our teeth firmly together, we could strain a little of 
it down. There were just a few, a very few ^ in our regi- 
ment who were too fastidious in their tastes to use it at all, 
for drinking purposes, only as they mixed small quanti- 
ties with a certain qui purgat^ the English of which is 
Commissary Whiskey. 

We stayed at this place from December till March. It 
was commonly reported that the army encamped at Brandy 
Station, but it was scattered over the ground in this vicinity 
for six miles or more around. The line nominally extended 
from the Rappahannock to the Rapidan, occupying Cul- 
pepper, and stretching back to the Hazel and Hedgman 
rivers. The rebel army was in the vicinity of Madison 
Court House, and Lee's head-quarters could be distinctly 
seen from our signal station on Bear Mountain. The army 
here, probably, was as pleasantly located as during any 
winter of the war. There were few things that the soldier 
needed which he could not purchase. There were suttles 



57 

for each regiment, and "purv^eyors" for corps, divisions and 
brigade head-quarters. Some of them opened clothing 
stores, and nearly all tried to keep on sale whatever there 
was a demand for, and through them anything that was 
kept in the markets of Washington and New York could be 
procured upon short notice at small ( ?) profits, — in fiict they 
were the express messengers between us and the merchants 
and manufacturers of the world. 

The occupations of the men during these winter months 
were various — they were Tankee. Their quarters were 
all comfortably arranged ; some of them were ingeniously 
fitted up and fancifully adorned. Harper's and Leslie's Il- 
lustrated Weeklies furnished many a soldier's hut with tasty 
decorations, after he had profitably read them. The battle 
cuts, views of camps and landscapes, were often carefully 
presenxd and pinned or pasted to their cabin-walls ; added 
to them were the brilliant pictures and daubs of novel covers, 
and all these often interspersed with their own rude pencil- 
ings. Some of their tents were turned into cobbler's shops, 
and tailoring establishments, where the occupant, with true 
Yankee enterprise, would repair the clothes and shoes of" 
his neighbor ; some of them, besides all the other pur- 
poses they sen-ed, were converted into jeweler's shops, and 
watches were actually well cleaned and repaired in the 
camp. All kinds of craftsmen were found among the vol- 
unteers of our army, and details were easily made for the 
telegraph office, the forges, and all the workshops of the 
Quartermaster-General, for printing establishments when 
found abandoned, who were capable of managing the edi- 
torial and mechanical departments ; these men were good for 
all work, from the tinkering of a tin cup and the digging of 
a ditch to the building and running of a railroad. All pro- 
fessions were also represented in the ranks. There were 
inen of the rank and file in the Tenth Regiment who had 
served honorably in the Legislature of Vermont, lawyers 
5 



58 

who had won some local distinction, ministers of the gospel 
who carried knapsacks and bore hardships uncomplain- 
ingly, fought bravely and died nobly. Our military duties 
at this time were light, details, only, once in two or three 
weeks, being required for picket duty. 

About the middle of December, orders were received 
allowing furloughs to enlisted men, and leaves of absence 
to officers ; a great many availed themselves of the oppor- 
tunity thus afforded, to revisit home and friends. Many 
ladies, also, wives of officers, came to the regiment and 
spent the winter with their husbands. At one time there 
were a dozen whom we used to say in homely and friendly 
phrase " belonged " to the Tenth. They ranked as follows : 
Mrs. Colonel Jewett, Mrs. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry, Mrs. 
Major Chandler, Mrs. Surgeon Child, Mrs. Captain Piatt, 
Mrs. Captain Hunt, Mrs. Captain Salisbury, Mrs. Captain 
Damon, Mrs. Quarter-Master Valentine, Mrs. Lieutenant 
Davis, Mrs. Lieutenant Stetson. There were also others 
visiting with the above, who did not "belong" to the 
regiment. Certainly a military camp, likely to be deserted, 
even in the winter, for two or three days at a time, and 
liable at any moment to be disturbed, if not assailed by the 
enemy, is not the most delightful place for ladies to sojourn 
for any length of time, yet those who visited us, though they 
did not become enamored with the customs of the soldiers, 
adapted themselves very readily to the exigencies of their 
situations, and while they did not, it will be remembered, 
contemplate our hard tack and hash, without grimaces, 
probably they did not experience any of those horrid visions 
with which imagination had so often filled the camp. 

Christmas and New Year's were very pleasantly remem- 
bered in this winter camp, though obsei-ved somewhat 
differently than they had been on former occasions and in 
other places. Still the American will ever remember his 
holidays, and, if possible, celebrate them with such ceremo- 



59 

nies as his ingenuity may suggest or his means and condition 
enable him to improve. We had "select" dinnerparties, 
with rare entertainment ; music by our excellent band, 
speeches, and minor festivities of a more general character. 
One of the incidents of Christmas day w^as a procession 
formed by all who were permitted to be festive, headed by 
a donkey, the gravest ass of the company, mounted by 
an impersonation of Old Nicholas. This procession moved 
about the camp to the music of fife and drum, much to the 
amusement of both the participants and the lookers-on. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler nominally commanded this . 
merry expedition, but the donkey, being a little obstinate 
and difficult to ride in a straight line, really became the 
solemn chief of the occasion. There were other far more 
brilliant exhibitions with and ai'ound us, but pi'obably none 
where the participants became more innocently jolly. 

On the night of the twent}'-fifth of January, 1864, the 
officers of the old Third Corps had a general reunion and 
ball at General Carr's head-quarters. The affair has been 
thus described : 

"A spacious hall, ninety-six by thirty-six feet, covered 
with tarpaulins and tent flies, had been erected by details of 
men from Carr's Division, and profusely decorated with ever- 
greens and flags. Three bands were in attendance, and the 
whole scene was brilliantly illuminated. Tickets of admis- 
sion were ten dollars each ; the entertainment cost more 
than two thousand dollars ; and there was the strange specta- 
cle of sentinels guarding the entrance and standing at differ- 
ent posts around the room, with fixed bayonets, at a ball." 

February sixth, our brigade received marching orders, 
with three days' rations. It moved out, leaving only a 
camp guard, at five o'clock P. M., as a part of a reconnoi- 
tering force, via Culpepper, towards the Rapidan, halting 
about seven miles from camp, at ten o'clock at night. Next 



6o 



morning they moved down towards Raccoon Ford ; re- 
mained in line of battle till night, and then returned, having 
seen no enemy and fired not a gun. The First Corps, how- 
ever, had a sharp skirmish at the Ford, losing a hundred 
men in killed and wounded, and capturing some prisoners. 

On the twenty-seventh, the Governor of Vermont, John 
Gregory Smith, with his staff, visited the regiment and 
dined with the Colonel's mess. His Excellency spent 
several days at the front, paying a visit to all the State 
troops. Other distinguished gentlemen, also from Vermont, 
were our guests for a few days at a time, among them Rev. 
Dr. Parker, now of Gorham, Me., the Hon. Henry Hall 
and wife, of Bennington, Vt., and others from other parts 
of the State, 

During the month of March the army was undergoing a 
reorganization. The old First and Third Corps were broken 
up as organizations, and the troops of these commands ab- 
sorbed in the Sixth, Fifth and Second Corps. 

About the middle of March, General Grant visited the 
Army of the Potomac for the first time. He had just been 
•created Lieutenant-General, and placed in command of all 
the land forces of the United States. He hastily reviewed 
the various corps, and then followed the consolidation. 

Some complaint followed the breaking up of the Third 
Army Corps. It was the first organized at the beginning of 
the Rebellion, and such distinguished Generals as Hooker, 
Kearney, Heintzelman, Sickles, Howard, Barry and Birney, 
and several others, had been identified with it, and had 
helped to render its name immortal. But as the Tenth was 
to join the Sixth Corps, and become associated, although in 
another division, with the glorious old " Vermont Brigade," 
there were no heart-burnings with us. Two of the old regi- 
ments from other States were added to our brigade, the 
Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania and the One Hundred and 
Sixth New York. The old division, consisting of three 



6i 



brigades, was now formed into two, and attached to the 
Sixth Corps as its Third Division, and was much the small- 
est division in the corps. 

The following named regiments composed the First Bri- 
gade : the One Hundred and Fifty-first and One Hundred 
and Sixth New York, the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, the 
Fourteenth New Jersey and the Tenth Vermont. The Second 
Brigade was constituted by the One Hundred and Tenth, One 
Hundred and Twenty-second, and One Hundred and Twen- 
ty-sixth Ohio Regiments, the only Western troops in the 
Army of the Potomac, and the Sixth Maryland. At the 
organization our General commanders were Brevet Major- 
General James B. Ricketts, of the division ; Brigadier-Gen- 
eral W» H. Morris, of the First Brigade ; and Colonel, 
afterwards General, Kifer, of the One Hundred and Tenth 
Ohio, of the Second Brigade. The First Division, General 
Birney's, of the old Third Corps, became the Third Division 
of the Second Corps ; and the Second Division, General 
Prince's, joined the Fifth Corps. 

We were encamped on the left of the old organization, 
and near the right of the Second Corps, and were therefore 
obliged to exchange camps with Birney's Division. It 
seemed hard, at this season of the year, when we needed 
something more than canvas protection, to leave our neat, 
pleasant quarters, for the filthy mud-hole into which we 
were put, and the low, dirty cabins which contrasted so dis- 
mally with our clean and airy ones. We did not occupy 
them, however, only while we were laying out and building 
decent quarters three hundred yards away, which we were 
permitted to enjoy barely a month. 

On the twenty-fifth of April, Colonel Jewett resigned, 
and on the evening previous to his departure most of the 
field, staff" and line officers assembled in his quarters to take 
leave of their commander. In reffecting upon the incidents 
of that occasion, it is impossible to recall, with accuracy, 



62 



those features which at this distance of time would afford 
the pleasantest recollections. The Colonel briefly expressed 
his regrets at leaving the gallant regiment, and hoped that 
all would prove themselves worthy of the good name Ver- 
mont troops had already won on a score of battle-fields, and 
bear bravely their own glorious standard to the end. Ear- 
nest responsive speeches were made by Major Chandler, 
Surgeon Child, and Captains Sheldon and Blodgett. 

But the days for merry meetings were coming rapidly to 
a close. Nearly five months had passed away since the 
Mine Run campaign, and the prospect of taking the field 
again was nearing every hour. The sick, and surplus bag- 
gage, had been sent to the rear. Sutlers, visitors and citi- 
zens, had been ordered oft' on the twenty-ninth of ^M arch, 
and now, the last days of April, active preparations for an 
advance upon the enemy were everywhere going on. The 
monotony of camp life was sternly broken ; orderlies were 
hastily riding about froin corps to division head-quarters, 
and brigades and regiments received detailed instructions of 
the proposed campaign through their respective command- 
ers. Corps and divisions were hastily reviewed and care- 
fully inspected ; the music of bands ceased, drum corps 
and bugles became silent, and orders were issued forbidding 
their use in the approaching campaign except by special 
permission. Yet it was not known by other than corps 
commanders whither the campaign would lead. Strangely 
reticent was the one new and great head of the army. 

The Wilderness. 

Early on the morning of May fourth, the movement 
silently and earnestly commenced ; and when the sun rose 
it shone, never brighter, upon the deserted camps of the 
Union Army, and revealed to the rebel commander, no 
doubt, from his signal station on Clark's Mountain, a scene 



63 

that plainly said, "We are coming — coming to finish up 
the tragedy." Long before night the cavalry and three 
corps were over the river without opposition, the Fifth and 
Sixth crossing at Germania Ford, and the Second at Ely's 
Ford. 

Somehow it seemed to every man, all of whom had 
crossed that same stream several times before to fight the 
enemy and then retreat, that we had now come to stay. 
The whole army, with its immense suppl}^ and ammunition 
trains, its baggage wagons, long lines of ambulances and 
parks of artillery, all plainly said we had come to stay. 
Here is a note made on the evening of the fourth, in the 
diary from which this book is compiled : 

" Over the river ! We are all here, and Mr. Lee, though 
he did not formally invite us, has not yet objected to our 
staying. Cheerily have the men pushed on to-day — fifteen 
miles and not a sore foot, not a struggle — the column came 
in solid ! 

"What next we do not know ; but we shall sleep sound- 
ly to-night, right under the shadow of Grant's battle-ffag, 
charmed by the music of the Rapidan. Sleep soldier ! 
May God bless thy numbered slumbers ! " 

Generals Grant and Meade both made their head-quar- 
ters with the Sixth Corps. Next morning two divisions of 
the corps moved afsunrise. Our division remained at and 
near the ford, where we had crossed, until General Burn- 
side, with the Ninth Corps, arriving from Warrenton, 
appeared on the opposite bank of the river. The division 
was then ordered to move by the plank road, to the old 
Wilderness Tavern, whither the other two divisions had 
gone, and where, on that afternoon, a little to the left, at the 
junction of the Orange Court House, and what was known 
as the "broolc road," the "Old Brigade," with two other 
brigades of the Second Division, had a terrible encounter 



64 

with the enemy. These troops were sent to the assistance 
of the Second Corps, but they fought a succession of san- 
guinary battles while that corps was forming its line for an 
attack. Our division did not go to the Old Wilderness Tav- 
ern, but filed off to the right of the plank road just before 
we reached the Old Wilderness Run, and went into position 
north of the Orange pike ; the Second Brigade was sent to 
reenforce the First Division, and the First Brigade was or- 
dered to the support of the Second Division. But we were 
not put into close action during the afternoon, though con- 
stantly under fire after we reached the field. On reaching 
the Orange pike, however, moving to the position assigned, 
and along which the brigade essayed to move, it encountered 
a perfect tornado of shell, that burst above and in the midst 
of the men, faster, it seemed, than they could be counted. 
They sprang across the pike at a bound, but in doing so a 
score were killed and wounded. A shell struck near Gen- 
eral Ricketts, killing three horses mounted by officers of his 
staff', and at the same time wounded an officer on General 
Griffin's staff. Our brigade at dark occupied a position on 
the south of the pike, two hundred yards beyond, where we 
stayed in line of battle all night. 

We had suffered but little in this first day's battle of the 
Wilderness. The "Old Brigade" had suffered terribly, hav- 
ing borne the brunt of the battle from noon till dark. The 
number of men slaughtered was shockingly great ; many 
valuable officers were killed and wounded. The Second 
Brigade of our Division suffered much worse than the First. 
Three officers and thirty-eight enlisted men were killed, and 
one hundred and seventy-four were wounded. A large pro- 
portion of these casualties was in the One Hundred and 
Tenth Ohio Regiment. Colonel Kifer, its gallant com- 
mander, who had just been relieved from the command of 
the brigade, on account of the arrival of General Seymour, 
was severely wounded. His appearance at the Third Divis- 



^5 

ion hospital will not be easily forgotten. He came in hat- 
less and pantless. He had nothing on except a pair of heavy 
army shoes, a pair of indescribable colored socks, such as 
were issued by the Qiiartermaster, a shirt bloody from top 
to bottom, and a vest buttoned close around him. His right 
arm was terribly shattered, hanging at his side, while in his 
left hand he held his good sword. All this, with his long, 
tangled hair — for he was a Nazarite, sworn not to cut his 
hair or beard until Richmond fell — gave him a most weird 
appearance. When or how he came no one knew ; and 
when the surgeon kindly asked him if he would have his 
wound dressed, he I'eplied, with an expression of mingled 
wrath and grief: "I should not cai^e for myself if the ras- 
cals had not cut my poor men to pieces." 

On the morning of the sixth, the First Brigade moved 
over on to the north side of the pike, where we remained idle 
until six o'clock in the evening. It seemed that this was a 
reserved brigade, kept at a point from which it would be 
easy to move to the place most needed. But during the 
entire day they were kept in this position, right in the range 
of the enemy's artillery, their shell bursting in front and 
around them, but more frequently going over their heads. 
Sometimes they were brought within musket range by the 
advance of the rebels. One officer and six men were killed, 
and twenty-one taken prisoners, and we did not fire a gun 
nor were we permi4±ed to move away. Captain Judson, of 
the One Hundred and Sixth New York, acting on General 
Morris's staff, was also taken prisoner. A position of this 
kind affords one of the severest tests of courage. A " square 
fight " did not cause one-half of the pitiless anxiety that this 
expectant, dubious state enforced. 

At the time the brigade was moving from the south 
to the north side of the pike in the morning, the enemy 
made a sudden dash upon the right of our corps, probably 
designed to mask a determined assault made at the same 



66 



time farther to the left upon the Second and Ninth Corps. 
After three or four desperate charges made on this part of 
our line during the day, and as many counter charges by 
WaiTen, Hancock and Burnside, in which the rebels were 
successively defeated, simply because they did not defeat us, 
they again renewed the attack upon the extreme right of 
the Sixth Corps, where they had made a feint in the morn- 
ing. This came nearer being a success. An eye-witness 
thus describes it : 

"About sunset the rebels attacked the extreme left of 
the Sixth Corps, composed of Shaler's Brigade of the First 
Division, and Seymour's Brigade of the Third Division, 
Shaler's Brigade broke in confusion, and the Second Bri- 
gade being flanked, also broke, and the men crossed a ravine, 
and some of them in great disorder retreated to a breast- 
work just behind the ravine, in front of which they were 
posted, and many even went back to the plank road, where 
they caused a momentary panic among the teamsters and in 
the Hospital Depaitment stationed there." 

In this break General Seymour was captured. The 
rebels made a right wheel, and were pouring in between the 
broken and disordered lines, crumbling them off", and press- 
ing up to the rear of our right centre, where General Griffin 
promptly brought the troops stopped in the breastwork 
above referred to, reenforcing them with a battery which 
immediately opened fire upon the flank and rear of the Con- 
federates. At the same time the First Brigade vv^as ordered 
to the rescue. General Morris immediately gave the order 
for his brigade to change front, and the Tenth Vermont and 
the One Hundred and Sixth New York, the only regiments 
that he had in hand, sprang to their feet, and changing direc- 
tion by the right flank, on the double quick formed a line 
facing north across the path of the retreating Second Bri- 
gade, and as they came to a front. Colonel Henry shouted to 



^1 

Lieutenant-Colonel Townsend, of the One Hundred and 
Sixth, to join him in giving three cheers, which were given 
as only soldiers can give them. At this the Second Brigade 
immediately began to rally in our rear. General Morris, 
thus hastening from the position that he had held all day, 
seemingly to no purpose, fairly checked the rebel advance. 
Seeing this movement, they fell back beyond the ravine to 
the position from which they had just driven Shaler's and 
Seymour's Brigades. Our line was now put in order, look- 
ing northward, whereas it had faced to the southwest. The 
work of intrenching the line was a matter of but a few mo- 
ments, and the Battle of the Wilderness was virtually over. 

On the seventh there was some artillery firing and some 
skirmishing, but the enemy had given up the contest and 
withdrawn behind his strong intrenchments. The awful 
numbers of the wounded were cared for as best they could 
be, the dead were buried, detached regiments and brigades 
rejoined their commands, and all things were put in readi- 
ness to move and flank the enemy out of his works as soon 
as night covered us. 

It is remarkable that the Tenth Regiment, although 
constantly under fire, moving to the support of other troops 
and into threatened positions during the successive engage- 
ments of these three days, lost only three men killed and 
nine wounded. 

Mr. Greeley, in his "American Conflict," states that 
Genei'al Grant " intended to go through this miserable chap- 
arral as quickly as possible, and it was Lee's business not 
to let him." This may be true ; certain it is that the rebel 
General so disposed his corps and formed his lines as to 
strike each of Grant's columns and bruise them all he could 
before they got fairly into position. 

Some have undertaken to condemn, and others have 
labored to approve, the course of the Union commander in 
this afiair of the Wilderness. Its justification — if it is not 



too late to say so — is easy. There was but one thing to do 
at this stage of the war. The loyal American people had 
no choice but to fight the disloyal and rebellious, and fight 
them out. There could be no inore " backing and fill- 
ing," but the work must now go straight on to the end. 
And it is exceedingly questionable whether or not they had 
the power to choose the advantages of any battle-field that 
might have been selected for the first encounter. The 
strength and discipline of the rebel army would have secured 
them this at any point between Washington and Richmond. 
Why, then, was it not well for General Grant to pursue the 
tactics embodied in instructions to Sheridan when he went 
up the Shenandoah Valley, and which all the world ap- 
plauded : " Pursue the enemy attd attack them wherever 
fiound." 

On the night of the seventh, about half-past eleven 
o'clock, the whole army was on the move towards the right 
of the enemy's position. Our division moved by the Chan- 
cellorsville pike towards Spottsylvania Court House. In 
crossing the battle-field of Chancellorsville we saw many 
signs of the desperate conflict that raged there just a year 
before. The place where Stonewall Jackson was wounded, 
and the house in which he died, were pointed out to us. The 
field was a sepulchre, silent, and full of dead men's bones. 
It seemed worse even than the one which we had just left. 
all slippery with the best blood of fifty thousand men. Here 
was all the debris of battle, white and mouldy ; splintered 
gun-carriages, torn saddles, broken muskets, battered can- 
teens, shriveled cartridge boxes and knapsacks, blankets 
stripped into shreds and hanging upon the bushes, skeletons 
of horses and men scattered about the field and mingling in 
a common dust. Around them were cannon balls and frag- 
ments of shell. Every tree and rock bore the marks of the 
terrible fray. Here were stout frames of men, with the blue 
uniforms of the patriot soldier still clinging to the unsightly 



69 

masses, just where they were hurled down in the awful rage 
of battle. Scores of human skulls were kicked over and 
went rolling away from the path we were treading to other 
scenes of carnage. How could men march away from these 
ghastly realities of war, with its bony relics all before them, 
and immediately become unflinching actors in other parts of 
the awful, bloody drama, with possible results precisely the 
same? Simply because they were deemed otily possible 
and not certain. 

Spottsylvan ia . 

We left the Chancellorsville pike at Aldrich's house, and 
after a few hours' march in a south-easterly direction on the 
old Tod's Tavern road, went into position a mile or so east 
of Alsop's farm. The Third Division occupied the crest 
of a hill on the right of the corps, their line extending down 
into a valley. The enemy were in position both in front 
and on the right, where their infantry had opposed Han- 
cock's advance for several hours. It was supposed that he 
had driven them back, so that our position might be tenable 
and be made an easy point from which to advance. The 
order to attack, therefore, was given. But at this time it was 
discovered that a rebel battery, posted just across a little 
stream called the river Ny, on rising ground, would 
completely enfilade the line the moment it should advance ; 
troops, also, were moving rapidly in that direction, evidently 
preparing for a stubborn resistance, with many advantages 
in their favor. Consequently the order of attack delivered 
to the Third Division was suspended, and the troops were 
drawn back towards the left, nearly to an angle with the 
line first taken up. During all this time Robinson's Divis- 
ion, of Hancock's Corps, was fighting desperately on our 
right, and when nearly exhausted and falling back, Grifiin's 
Division of the Fifth Corps was sent to his assistance. 
Both divisions immediately charged, capturing two thousand 



70 

prisoners, losing probably one thousand. Our division only 
lost sixteen men in the inferior part it had taken in the oper- 
ations of the day. After dark the division was moved half- 
a-mile to the left, down the hill, and three hundred yards to 
the front, up to the edge of an open field, beyond which the 
enemy were intrenched, but deemed it too hazardous to re- 
main here after daylight, and we again fell back undisturbed 
and threw up intrenchments. 

Next day these works were strengthened. Batteries 
were placed in position, and the division got a terrific shell- 
ing in reply to their own batteries, besides being constantly 
annoyed by the enemy's sharpshooters. Those who had the 
opportunity sought the best covert they could from this 
close and deadly fire ; both oflicers and men hugged the 
ground with an affection that was truly touching, and that 
could have been inspired only by the childish instinct of 
security in a mother's embrace. At such times each man 
feels that he weighs a ton, so far down does he imbed him- 
self in the earth. It was with the utmost risk that the cooks 
prepared coffee, for the moment that a column of smoke 
arose above the woods, the rebel artillerists would train 
their guns and blaze away at the spot they supposed to be 
somewhere near its base. By this practice they spoiled 
several batches of coffee, designed for the men, destroying 
the kettles and scattering the firebrands around. Some were 
half buried beneath the furrows ploughed by bursting shells, 
and many were wounded — among them our brigade com- 
mander. General W. H. Morris. General Sedgwick was 
killed here. He was superintending the work of placing a 
battery in position and he was struck in the face just under 
the left eye, by a rebel sharpshooter, and instantly killed. 
Five minutes before, he was jesting with the men who were 
flinching and dodging the bullets : " Poh, men," he says, 
" they could not hit an elephant at this distance." He was 
a brave and noble officer — the idol of the men he com- 



71 

manded. " Uncle John " the men called him. His name 
and the glory of the old Sixth Corps are forever identical. 
Major-General H. G. Wright succeeded to the command of 
the corps. 

Our position remained unchanged during the next day 
and the day following, except on the eleventh, the Tenth 
Regiment vs^as throw^n out on the skirmish line. On the 
twelfth, the division, with the corps, was moved to the left, 
into the works of the Second Coi-ps, in order to support 
General Hancock in his famous assault, made that day on 
the rebel works in his front. It was rather a continuous 
assault ; the attack was made in the grey dawn, and contin- 
ued into the darkness of the evening with unabated fury. 
Charge followed charge in quick succession ; the roar of 
artillery was incessant, and the musketry did not merely 
rattle ; it sounded like the tearing of some monstrous web 
into a million shreds with the same motion. It belched 
forth one solid sheet of flame. On the first dash Hancock 
pushed the rebels out of their works, capturing General 
Bushrod Johnson and General G. E. Stuart, with over 
five thousand prisoners and between thirty and forty guns. 
These works were never retaken, although they were held 
at a terrible cost. Five times the rebels hurled their heavy 
assaulting columns upon Hancock's men and those of the 
Sixth Corps who had come to his aid, and five times they 
were sent staggering back with fearful loss. There were 
few battles of the war where men fought hand to hand, 
and this was one of them. Few bayonets were ever stained 
in the blood of the foe, but if one hundred wounds were 
inflicted by the bayonet in all the fighting of the Rebel- 
lion, which is doubtful, three-fifths of them were received 
here, so fiercely did men fight and so closely did the com- 
batants approach to each other. Troops from both armies 
clung to the same breastwork at the same time, and planted 
their flags upon it together, to be swept down by the same 



72 

volley. To say that both sides were equally determined, 
desperate, mad with a purpose, and that to conquer, would 
be stating the exact truth. Hancock gained an advantage 
when he burst from the thick curtain of fog in the early 
dawn, and he firmly held this advantage — that was all. 
Perhaps it was enough, even for the sacrifice it cost. There 
was something gained ; the foe who was supposed to be 
sleepless had been caught napping, we had advanced a mile, 
secured the trophies above referred to — it was a victory ! 

But the mutual carnage was frightful. Here it may be 
said without exaggeration that the dead " lay in heaps" and 
the soil was " miry with blood." The slain were piled 
upon each other — packed up so as to form defences for 
those who prolonged the battle, and the whole field was 
covered with a mass of quivering flesh. When all, and 
more than lived to tell the story of the conflict, were borne 
away, and the battle was over — when the still night came 
down covering with dark, damp silence those who had 
struggled and earned the tribute of a nation's gratitude and 
tears, or the just rewards of treason, there were packed 
into five square acres fifteen hundred dead men. But by far 
the largest number were the gray. Hancock has the glory 
of this victory ; let his men share it with the veterans of the 
Sixth Corps. 

We had struck them at an angle of their works, which 
was a key-point to both armies, and whoever held this 
angle commanded the whole line of works. Hence their 
struggle to retake it and their awful punishment. The 
First and Second Divisions of the Sixth Corps were hotly 
engaged in this action and suffered severely, but the Third 
Division was held in reserve and as a supporting column, 
and lost during the entire action only twenty-three men 
killed and one hundred and thirty-three wounded ; enough, 
perhaps, to show that they participated in the battle. Among 
the wounded were three oflScers. 



73 

On the morning of the thirteenth, the division moved 
back across this field to its old position on the right. On 
the fourteenth, we moved with the corps six miles, around 
the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Corps, crossing the Fred- 
ericksburg pike to the extreme left of the army. Freder- 
icksburg was now our new base of supplies, and via this 
point large reinforcements were arriving from Washington. 
The Eleventh Vermont, a regiment of Heavy Artillery, 
fifteen hvmdred strong, which had been in the fortifications 
at Washington nineteen months, now for the first time in 
the field, joined the " Old Brigade" of our Second Division. 
The Ninth New York, a regiment of the same arm of the 
service, and also from the defences of Washington, was 
attached to the Second Brigade of our division. Other 
commands of course received reenforcements, and the 
places of forty thousand men who had fallen out of the 
contest, since we crossed the Rapidan, were partly made 
good. Our division going into position just at dusk on the 
fifteenth, charged across the Ny River and relieved a brigade 
of the First Division, which had been vainly endeavoring 
to carry the crest of a hill held by the enemy just beyond. 
This brigade had been badly cut up, but refused to be 
driven oft". Our men charged through the stream where 
the water was up to their armpits. Swinging their car- 
tridge-boxes over their shoulders, they gained the hill with 
a shout. Then filing to the right, and drawing back the 
left, so that it rested on the river, they threw up intrench- 
ments and remained in this position until the afternoon of 
the seventeenth. The army I'emained in this vicinity until 
the twenty-first, the troops by corps and divisions moving 
from right to left, now massing and combining before some 
supposed weak point in the enemy's line, and then quietly 
withdrawing to old positions to await the enemy's attack. 
But he made none. The Third Division was not brought 
into serious collision with the enemy since the night of the 
6 



74 

fourteenth, until the twenty-first. While withdrawing from 
the works just before dusk, in order to move across the 
North Anna river, towards which the bulk of the army had 
gone, we were spitefully attacked in the rear. The First 
and Second Divisions had already moved out, but when the 
rebels rushed over our deserted works and were endeavoring 
to intercept our line of march, a part of these troops hurry- 
ing back, came with a crash upon their flank, and captured 
a number of prisoners, whereupon the rest made haste to 
retreat, badly punished for their pains. 

General Grant was not further molested in the execution 
of his flank movement from Spottsylvania Couit House to 
the North Anna. 

Between the Annas. 

We had crossed a medley of small streams, which the 
inhabitants and the map-makers called rivers. These fur- 
nished the waters and the syllables for the name of a larger 
stream below. They were named respectively as follows : 
Mat, Ta, Po, and Ny. Running a short distance to the south, 
they formed geographically, as well as literally, the Matta- 
pony River. This certainly must have taxed some one's 
ingenuity for a name. 

On the twenty-second, we received our mails from the 
North, from whence we had not heard for nineteen days. 
The event was a joyful one, and yet that there were thou- 
sands of unclaimed letters — never could be claimed by 
those to whom they were addi'essed — was the sad mixture of 
that joy. When the names borne upon these letters, the 
very writing of which inspired a prayer as the pen traced 
the familiar superscriptions, were called, the responses to 
one-half of them, that silently and solemnly impressed them- 
selves upon the understanding, were, " wounded," " dead," 
" prisoners." But the emergencies of war forbade a long 
contemplation of those scenes. 



75 

On the twenty-fourth, the Third Division, with the corps, 
crossed the North Anna at Jericho Mills, about eight o'clock 
in the morning. The Fifth Corps had fought its way over 
here the evening before. We lay on the bank of the river 
till six o'clock in the afternoon, when we moved off towards 
the South Anna, marching by General Grant's headquarters 
while the General and his staff were " taking tea." The 
newspapers had told us a great deal about the " tooth-brush 
baggage," and the paucity of our commander-in-chief's 
commissariat. The delusions disappeared when we saw 
the large, airy tents, the splendid outfit of these head-quar- 
ters, and cast our hungry looks upon the well supplied 
tables where officer^ were eating from real crockery plates 
with genuine knives and forks. This of course was all as 
it should be, and no man who knew the duties of a soldier 
could complain of it ; but we did not like the newspaper 
fraud, and did not afterwards commiserate the General of 
the Army, as we had done before, as he had been repre- 
sented riding about with the tooth-brush in his vest pocket, 
living upon hard tack and sleeping at night on the damp 
ground, with his saddle for a pillow, and with nothing but 
the deep starry heavens for a shelter. 

We marched through a terrific rain storm to Qiiarles 
Mills, where at eight o'clock we run into the enemy's picket 
lines. After some skirmishing we withdrew, and during 
the night we took jt position and fortified it. Next morning 
we marched to Nolan's Station, on the Virginia Central 
Railroad, which we burned ; we also destroyed the track 
for eight miles beyond. At night the Tenth went " on 
picket " below the railroad, south of the station ; our post 
was at a place so wet that those who were allowed the 
privilege were obliged to pile up fence rails, in order to 
sleep above water. Our corps did not become engaged, 
except in slight skirmishes, during the ten days we con- 
fronted the army at this point, although the Fifth and 



76 

Second had to fight for positions, and fight to maintain 
them. On the twenty-sixth, another flank movement was 
commenced, led by the Sixth Corps, recrossing at Jericho 
Mills, and still bearing down upon Richmond, arriving at 
Chesterfield Station at midnight. The Tenth did not leave 
the picket line until three o'clock in the morning of the 
twenty-seventh. We rejoined the division at seven, the 
same morning, and at sundown were in sight of the 
Pamunkey River. 

The country along the North Anna is barren and desti- 
tute of interest, the inhabitants sparse and poor. But as 
we approached the Pamunkey the soil is rich, well cleared, 
and cultivated. The valley is wide and fertile, and large 
wheat and corn fields just springing up, gave indication of 
far more thrift and enterprise than we had seen elsewhere. 
But the main reason for it, we were told, was that the Con- 
federate chief had exhorted the farmers in this vicinity to 
devote all their energies to agricultural pursuits, as it would 
be impossible for the Yankees to molest them. So near their 
capital ; besides the hungry markets at Richmond needed 
the utmost kernel they could produce. But this assurance 
that he would hold back the " ruthless invader" was poorly 
kept, and before the promise of harvest was faii'ly budded, 
the heavy tramp of the Union Army came thundering over 
their fields, and left wide paths, beaten as smooth as a sum- 
mer threshing floor. Besides, we found large quantities of 
corn, hoarded doubtless for the use of the Confederacy, on 
the plantation of Mr. George Tyler, wdiich was appropriated 
to our use. We crossed the river at noon on the twenty- 
eighth, at ''Widow Nolan's Bridge." That lady's bridge 
was gone, but we crossed on pontoons which answered as 
well. The whole corps immediately took position on the 
high ground beyond, and threw up breastworks in order to 
cover the bridge while the rest of the army crossed. Here 
the cavalry, having preceded the infantry, aided by the 



11 

Second Division, captured a couple of guns from the encmy 
and a number of prisoners. Our own brigade occupied a 
position south and east of one Dr. Pollard's house, the 
works running through an orchard and across a cotton 
field, where the young plants were about six inches high 
when we entered it. Pollard's estate was the finest we had 
seen. He had a splendid plantation, rich in broad agricul- 
tural fields, and thrifty orchards ; adorned with shade and 
ornamental trees, and supplied with every domestic con- 
venience. We approached this place through long avenues, 
shaded by the magnolia and catalpa ; and the large egg- 
shaped flowers of the former, and the clusters of smaller 
trumpet-shaped blossoms of the other, variegated w^th yel- 
low and purple, loaded the air with delicious fragrance, 
and filled the scene with the most tranquil beauty, strangely 
contrasting with the smell of powder, the tumult, and the 
gory exhibition of battle. Hancock immediately followed 
Wright, and went into position on the left. Next morning 
Warren and Burnside were both over the river. 

On the twenty-ninth, our First Division went out on a 
reconnoissance, and the First Brigade of the Third Division 
followed to support. Early on the thirtieth we moved from 
Pollard's farm, in a westerly direction, crossing Crump's 
Creek, towards Hanover Court House. When approaching 
Atler's Station, about twelve o'clock, we were ordered back 
to support the Sect)nd Corps, then hotly engaged with the 
enemy near Tolopotomy Creek. We were hurried along 
through pathless woods and fields, making a shorter cut to 
the Hanover pike, which we had left at nine o'clock in the 
morning, and which we soon left again, crossing a swamp, 
toiling through a dense oaken forest, where the pioneers 
were clearing a road for artillery, and went into line of bat- 
tle on the left of Birney's Division at three o'clock in the 
afternoon. Skirmishes were immediately thrown out, and 
at dark the order to advance along the whole line was given. 



78 

The enemy held a Hne running nearly north and south, with 
his left resting on the creek which ran around behind him, 
and into which he must have been pushed had he been 
vigorously attacked. But no advance was made, although 
it seemed that this was precisely what he feared, for he 
kept up a shai'p skirmish fire till midnight. In the morning 
it was found that his main force had been withdrawn, and 
this line of skirmishers had been popping away in the dark- 
ness to keep their courage up. The Second and Sixth Corps 
were swung around to the right, and formed a new line of 
battle facing to the south, where tiie enemy took up a much 
stronger position on the opposite side of the Tolopotomy, 
although he came near losing the opportunity to take it, 
from having resisted us so stubbornly on less advantageous 
ground. 

Cold Harbor. 

At one o'clock A. M., the Sixth Corps was withdrawn 
from this position, and moved around fifteen miles to Cold 
Harbor, relieving the cavalry at ten o'clock same morning. 
These troopers received us with wild demonstrations of joy ; 
they had been hard pushed, fighting dismounted all the morn- 
ing, yet they were led by officers who often held on a good 
while after they were well whipped, and not unfrequently 
plucked victoi'y from defeat. General Custer had his brigade 
band out on the skirmish line playing " Hail Columbia." As 
we approached it was thought that these gay troopers were 
celebrating a victory, but on the contrary they had been 
roughly handled, and did not mean to let the enemy know 
it, even if they themselves were aware of it. 

Here we saw a sight which made the blood curdle, and 
at every thought of which the soul sickens and turns away. 
We had heard of the occurrence, but never had been so 
unfortunate as to behold it before. Right over the field 
where the battle had done its fiercest work, the fire had 



79 

swept, and many a brave fellow, wounded and dying, unable 
to move from the place wdiere he had fallen, had the little 
remaining life drawn out of him by the flames, and his 
body burned to a crisp. Horrible sight ! Can the imag- 
ination picture a single woe that the sword and its fearful 
allies do not write out in bloody and ghastly characters ? 

The division went into position a little to the west of 
the old tavern, at Cold Harbor Cross Roads, in an open 
field behind a narrow belt of woods. The troops were 
formed in four lines of battle, by regiments. The Second 
Division was on the left, the First in the centre and the 
Third on the right, and the Eighteenth Corps, having just 
arrived from Petersburg, to the right of the Sixth Corps. 
About half-past six o'clock the order to advance was given, 
the Third Division to guide on the First. But for some 
reason our guides did not move wdiile the Eighteenth Corps 
did, which caused some confusion and was in danger of 
becoming fatal, as we were under a heavy fire pouring in 
from the right. At this juncture, General Ricketts, sending 
for further orders, was directed lo " move forward when 
the line on either flank moved, and to keep up the connection 
as far as possible. " This of course was not a possibility of 
long duration under the then present formation. When the 
Third Division advanced, keeping up with the Eighteenth 
Corps on the right, our own First Division on the left not 
advancing, it had tcr be reformed and brought into a direc- 
tion corresponding with the main advancing line. This 
movement somewhat retarded the advance of the First 
Brigade, which was on the left of the division, and caused 
an angle in the division front, at the point of intersection 
between the First and Second Brigades. As the wdiole 
division, therefore, advanced, the Second Brigade directly 
ahead, and the First, necessarily, in order to keep up this 
connection, somewhat obliquely, soon made this angle acute. 
This angle in the front of the division was subsequendy 



8o 



the most advanced part of the line, where works were 
finally constructed. 

The advance was made through this belt of pine woods 
before mentioned, over a ploughed field, where the rebel 
skirmishers had erected temporary breastworks of fence 
rails, through a shallow ravine and swamp, and into a thick 
woods where the rebel intrenchments were forced and car- 
ried. Sergeant, afterwards Captain, S. H. Lewis, of the 
Tenth, sprang over the works, capturing single-handed a 
major, a lieutenant, and several men. The left of this line 
extended out of the woods into an open field, and was 
much annoyed by an enfilading fire from the rebel batteries to 
which the men were exposed by the failure of the First Divi- 
sion, and besides being weakened by the lengthening of the 
line caused by keeping up the connection, were unable to 
carry the whole line of rebel works, nor did they take the 
battery that caused them most annoyance ; still they nobly 
stood their ground. It was now nine o'clock, and nearly 
dark, and there was a lull in the storm of battle. The cap- 
tured works were strengthened, and others thrown up. 
This business was not attended to a moment too soon, for 
an hour afterwards the rebels made a desperate attempt to 
regain their lost works and capture ours. In this attempt 
they were fearfully repulsed ; repeating it several times dur- 
ing the night, they met with the same ill success. 

The Tenth Regiment, in this advance, captured the 
Fifty-first North Carolina Regiment, and its commanding 
officer surrendered his sword to Captain E. B. Frost, at that 
time acting Major of the regiment. These prisoners were 
never credited to us, for the reason that they were allowed 
to go through our ranks, and not a man was sent to guard 
them to the rear, and they fell into the hands of other 
troops who took pains to properly guard and report them. 
When this regiment surrendered. Colonel Henry jumped 
upon a log and called for three cheers, which were given 



8i 



with a will, and this was the first exultant voice that broke 
the noise of the conflict since it commenced. The losses of 
our brigade were — officers killed, seven; wounded, ten; 
prisoners, four. Enlisted men killed, seventy ; wounded, 
two hundred and twenty-five ; prisoners, twenty-eight. 
Among the killed was Colonel Townsend of the One Hun- 
dred and Sixth New York, a brave officer and a refined 
gentleman. Lieutenants Stetson and Newton, of the Tenth 
Vermont, both excellent officers, were killed. Major 
McDonald of the One Hundred and Sixth, and Lieutenant 
Thompson of the Tenth, w^ere taken prisoners. Colonel 
Billy Truax of the Fourteenth New Jersey, commanding 
the brigade, was wounded ; also Colonel Henry of the 
Tenth Vermont, and Colonel Shawl of the Eighty-seventh 
Pennsylvania. The Tenth lost more heavily in officers and 
men than any other regiment in the division, on account of 
the cross fire that came in upon them from the break 
between the First Division and its own left. 

Without detailing the account of other actions in which 
the regiment was engaged at Cold Harbor, it may be stated 
that there was a continuous battle here, lasting from the 
first to the twelfth of June. Scarcely a day passed that it 
did not lose blood. On the third, in a general assault upon 
the whole rebel line, we lost quite as heavily as on the first. 
Captain E. B. Frost was killed, an officer widely known in 
the army, and loved for his many excellent qualities of head 
and heart. Captains P. D. Blodgett and L. T. Hunt were 
severely wounded, besides a large number of men. The 
command was constantly under fire, and we were every day 
losing men. On the sixth. Captain Darrah was killed by 
a rebel sharpshooter. No man could show his head above 
the breastworks, or go twenty yards from them to the rear, 
without exposing himself to the same fate. 

On the seventh, there was a flag of truce, from eleven to 
twelve o'clock, and many officers of these contending armies 



82 



sprang over the high iiitrenchments to witness the bloody 
work they had done. Enemies met as friends. There was 
no boasting, no bandying of words — the event was too 
solemn for jokes between those who had fought with such 
stern bravery so long. No one can adequately describe the 
scene here presented. Hundreds of dead men, and many 
wounded and helpless, before beyond the reach of friends, 
by night or day, lay stretched along between these lines, 
that were, in some places, not more than one hundred and 
twenty yards apart, reaching from Tolopotomy Creek to the 
Chickahominy river. Some had lain here dead since they 
fell, six days before, but now swollen and torn by the leaden 
and iron tempest, that had swept over and beaten around 
them, thicker than the flakes of a blinding snow storm, so 
as to be scarcely recognizable by friends who eagerly sought 
them. There were some wounded, who yet survived all 
the shocks that meted death to so many others, sheltered in 
some sunken part of the ground, to be brought off now and 
saved. The dead were hastily buried or taken away ; then 
this sublime hour — holy for its brief lease of life, an hour 
of peace, when the earth was calm, and the air so still that 
the gods of war slept — was at an end, friends were enemies 
again, and they hurried back to renew the carnage. 

On the ninth, the enemy made an assault upon our lines, 
and were bloodily repulsed. On the eleventh, the division 
moved to the left, into some works vacated by the Second 
Corps, which were very high, and so close up to the 
enemy's line that "Yank" and "Johnny" could easily con- 
verse with each other, — so near indeed 

"That the fixed sentinels almost receive 
The secret whispers of each other's watch." 

Behind these works were vast excavations, covered with 
logs, in which officers burrowed ; they served the double 
purpose of shelter from the shells of the rebel mortar 



83 

batteries, and protection from the burning heat of the sun. 
But this movement of troops was only temporary and pre- 
paratory for operations from a different base. 

Swinging Across the James. 

The Tenth now began to appear Hke a veteran regiment. 
Scores of the men who had fought through the battles of the 
Wilderness and Spottsylvania unhurt, had fallen at these 
fatal cross roads, and as the command filed silently out of 
their works on the night of the twelfth, their thinned ranks 
plainly told the sad brave story of their last twelve days' 
Avork. Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, then in command of 
the regiment, and since the first, reporting to the Adjutant- 
General of Vermont, said : 

"I have the honor to report that this regiment has been 
actively engaged in the late field operations of the cam- 
paign, and acquitted itself with honor, acknowledgment of 
which has been received in orders ; officers and men have 
discharged their whole duty. The effective force of the 
regiment is twelve officers and three hundred and fifty-two 
men." 

We were withdrawn from these advanced works at nine 
o'clock P. M., and formed a second line, five hundred yards 
to the rear ; but this was soon abandoned, and at sundown, 
on the thirteenth, we crossed the Chickahominy at Jones 
Bridge. We moved via Charles City Court House, and on 
the fifteenth reached the James River at Wilcox Landing, 
where works were thrown up, and the Sixth Corps covered 
the crossing of the army. About sundown we embarked 
on transports for City Point, but without disembarking on 
our arrival at this point, immediately sailed away to Ber- 
muda Hundreds, where we arrived at midnight, sixteenth. 
Landing without delay, we marched to a position just in 
the rear of General Butler's fortified line. It was daylight 



84 

(seventeenth) when we reached this point, about midway 
between the James and Appomattox Rivers. During the 
forenoon our position was changed, and just before dark, 
orders were received to attack the strong works of the 
enemy, and the troops formed for the assault, outside of 
Butler's line. There was current, at this time, an incident, 
but which now there are no means at hand for authen- 
ticating, that was so characteristic of the commander at 
Bermuda Hundreds, there is a strong temptation to relate 
it as it was then understood. General Wright protested 
against this order to attack, as extremely hazardous, and 
thought it ought not to be attempted. Butler's terse reply, 
more soldierly than considerate, was : " I send you an order 
to fight, you send me an argument." But General Wright, 
seeing, it is presumed, nothing to be gained in comply- 
ing with this order, except a display of courage, delayed its 
execution. It was subsequently countermanded, and the 
troops returned to the Army of the Potomac, but not until 
they had suffered considerably from the enemy's batteries. 

On the nineteenth, we crossed the Appomattox, at Point 
of Rocks, on pontoons, and moved around to the rear of 
Petersburg, going into a field south of City Point Railroad. 
On the twenty-first, the Sixth Corps moved out to the 
Jerusalem plank road, where the cavalry were skirmishing 
with the enemy, on the very ground we were to occupy. 
Although it was dark when the column formed into line of 
battle, yet skirmishers were thrown out, and the line 
advanced, until it connected with the left of the Second 
Corps, pushing the enemy back and capturing a number of 
prisoners, and at nine o'clock P. M., began to throw up 
intrenchments. This corps now constituted the extreme 
left of the army investing Petersburg, formed with the First 
Division, connecting with the Second Corps ; the Third 
Division, left of the First, and the Second, left of the Third, 
with one brigade facing to the left and rear. On the 



85 

morning of the twenty-second, the Vine advanced some half 
a mile or so, and then began to intrench. The troops 
alternated between intrenching and skirmishing, nearly all 
day. The Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania came near being 
captured while on the skirmish line. It was flanked and 
partially enveloped, on account of the retiring of the line 
next to this. As it was, they lost about a dozen men, and 
it was only the promptness, and often-tried bravery of 
their heroic commander, Colonel Shawl, that saved the 
regiment from capture. At five o'clock P. M., the whole 
line was withdrawn to the position taken the previous night, 
owing to a reverse sustained by the Second Corps. But 
just before dark the Third Division advanced again, with the 
corps retaining the same formation as above described. 
The attack was to be made, however, by the First and Third 
Divisions, the Second following, to protect the left flank of 
the Third. The line faced, at first, nearly west, and 
advanced about one mile through heavy pine woods, grad- 
ually swinging to the right, so that when it halted it foced 
north-northwest, the left extending toward the Weldon Rail- 
road. When the Third Division halted, it was found that 
the First Division had not advanced as far, nor in the direc- 
tion intended, and consequently their skirmish line was 
partly in our rear. The Second Division moved by the 
flank, and finally formed on the left of the Third, bending 
its own left back towards the rear. 

June twenty-third, the picket line was pushed out as far 
as the Weldon Railroad, and began to destroy the track. 
The work was little more than fairly begun, when the 
enemy attacked in heavy force the skirmish line and sharp- 
shooters or detachments sent out from the Vermont Brigade 
of the Second Division, and the Eighty-seventh Pennsylva- 
nia, of the Third, to protect the pioneers. But it appears 
that these detachments were not posted so as to afford sup- 
port to each other, or protection to themselves, in case they 



86 



were attacked by a superior force. They were attacked 
by just this superior force, on the right and the left, over- 
whelmed in front and nearly enveloped, so that the alter- 
native of death or suri'ender was presented on so short a 
notice, that brave men would be likely to accept the latter. 
Many were killed, but more yielded themselves pi^isoners of 
war. The Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania lost, in killed and 
wounded, twenty-six men, and in prisoners, four officers and 
fifty-three men. The losses of the Vermont Brigade were 
heavier, as more were engaged. 

The whole line now withdrew to the position taken up 
on the twenty-first, where we remained behind strong works 
until the twenty-ninth. 

On the twenty-ninth, the Sixth Corps marched to Rheims 
Station, on the Weldon Railroad, moving along in the rear 
of the line of ranks until we came to the Jerusalem plank 
road, which we followed about a mile ; then turning off to 
the right, passing the cavalry pickets, we reached the station 
about eight o'clock the next morning, having halted for an 
hour or two during the night. The inain body of the 
troops were deployed along the line of the road, in some 
places constructing works for the more suitable defence in 
case of an attack, while detachments tore up the track, 
burned the depot, and destroyed a large lot of railroad iron 
which had been left at the station. Same day we returned 
by the same route, reaching the Jerusalem road at ten 
o'clock P. M., having been gone thirty-six hours, and in- 
flicted a large amount of damage upon the enemy, and 
intercepted, temporaril}', one main line of his communica- 
tion, without the loss of a man. 

On the second of July, the corps returned to the left of 
the line and the same position we had occupied previous to 
the Weldon Railroad expedition. 

On the sixth of July, the third division was detached 
from the Sixth Corps and the Army of the Potomac, and 



87 

ordered to Harper's Ferry, to meet a rebel advance into 
Maryland under General Early. We were glad of any 
change, since no service could be more exhausting than the 
long campaigns we had already endured, and the almost 
constant fighting in which it had been our lot to share. 
For more than two months we had been engaged with this 
great army, in some of the most vigorous and persistent 
field operations known to modern warfare. For sixty-two 
days- and nights there had not been ten consecutive hours 
that we had been beyond the range of an enemy's rifle, 
and no time that we were not pressing nearer and nearer 
to his deadly line of defence ; and there was not an hour 
in all these sixty days that we did not hear either the rattle 
of musketry, or the roar of cannon, and usually while we 
were within their fatal range. In the steadv advance from 
the Rapidan to Petersburg, there had been scarcely a dav 
that some one did not fall from our ranks, and oftentimes 
scores yielded themselves willing sacrifices to the country's 
needs. Among the fallen \^•ere some of the bravest and 
best. Our brigade alone, had lost in killed, wounded and 
prisoners, over eight hundred men and officers, and less 
than forty were among the captured. We had now been 
in the vicinity of Petersburg seventeen days, moving from 
point to point, fighting, throwing up intrenchments, and 
marching as the emergency dictated — never idle. We had 
been on the sand-knolls, and the turfless pine plain of this 
region, long enough. Water fit to drink could not be ob- 
tained without difficulty ; the weather was oppressively hot 
and dry ; the wind blew like a monsoon, drifting sand into 
our eyes, sifting it through our clothes, and rubbing it into 
the pores of the skin. Hence we were eager for a change 
— nothing could be less acceptable than our present posi- 
tion — and we hailed the order to go back into Maryland, 
joyfully. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE division started at dawn on the sixth, marching 
fifteen miles, and reached City Point at ten o'clock, 
A. M., so completely covered vi^ith dust that w^e vs^ere mis- 
taken for a division of colored troops. At five P. M., all 
had embarked on transports, and v^ere steaming down the 
James River. Nothing could be more grateful to tired men 
than this sort of transit, after our weary marches of the past 
two months, through swamps and rivers, pathless woods, 
and over dry, sandy roads, in the hottest part of the year, 
constantly fighting and intrenching, all the way from the 
Rapidan to the Appomattox. It was delightful rest, prayer- 
fully welcomed, to be borne and gently rocked upon the 
broad, strong bosom of the river, away from the clouds 
of dust and the thousand annoyances of the camp, where 
the cool, untainted breeze came up from the water, and fell 
upon us with no murmur of the battle. We passed For- 
tress Monroe at midnight, and arrived ofF Baltimore on the 
evening of the' seventh. At eight o'clock next morning, 
the First Brigade was at Monocacy Junction, and soon at 
Frederick City, where we reported to General Lew Wallace, 
who was in command of a small force of hundred days' 
men at this point. 

In order to comprehend the situation, some reference 
to previous operations by the enemy will be necessary. 
The rebels had made their appearance at Martinsburg, 
abovit twenty thousand strong, on the third of July. Gen- 
eral Siegel, commanding temporarily in West Virginia, 
while General Hunter was getting his shattered forces out 



89 

of the Kanawha Valley, immediately retreated to Harper's 
Ferry, abandoning to the enemy stores that possibly might 
have been saved, as they w^ere greatly needed by Hunter's 
army. While General Siegel was perched upon Maryland 
Heights, Early moved by and around him, entirely out of 
harm's way, to Williamsport, and Hagerstown. A large 
part of Williamsport he burned ; he levied a contribution of 
twenty thousand dollars on the people of Hagerstown ; 
then he swept over the northern counties of Maryland, and 
up into the southern borders of Pennsylvania, making large 
drafts of cattle, horses, grain, and money. In four days 
he had ridden entirely around General Siegel, and on 
the seventh, a cavalry force of twelve hundred strong, 
under command of the rebel General Bradley Johnson, 
appeared between Middleton and Frederick. Colonel 
Clendenin went out to meet him, with four hundred, and 
of course was driven back, the rebels pursuing ; but here a 
small regiment of infantry, under command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Griffin, united with Clendenin's cavalry, and in 
turn drove them back. Probably Johnson was willing 
to go away, as yet it seemed to be only his business 
to keep just near enough to the Union forces to learn of 
their movements and strength. On the eighth, a part of 
the force which Early had brought over the river, probably 
eighteen thousand, or at least fifteen thousand, encamped 
around Middleton, ' General Wallace was at Frederick, 
with twenty-six hundred infantry, mostly one hundred days' 
men, who had never seen a battle, and four hundred cav- 
alry. This force, with the First Brigade of Ricketts's 
(Third) Division of the Sixth Corps, and one regiment of 
the Second Brigade, were all that he had to confront this 
comparatively large ami}-. The command under General 
Ricketts, then present, and all that took part in the battle on 
the morrow, embraced six veteran regiments, amounting, 
all told, to not more than eighteen hundred men. Hence 
7 



90 

there were less than five thousand to battle wit^li more than 
three times their number. 

Frederick is a beautiful interior town of Maryland, 
situated in the heart of Frederick County, forty miles west 
of Baltimore, and about the same distance north of 
Washington. The pikes running from these cities to 
Frederick, cross each other at right angles, in the centre of 
the town, and lead away, one to Sharpsburg on the north, 
and the other to Harper's Ferry on the west. On the east 
side of the town flows the Monocacy River, pushing its 
course exactly south, until it reaches a point three miles 
below, then it bends sharply to the right, and flows west, into 
the Potomac. To occupy and hold these pikes, were the 
gigantic tasks that Wallace set himself to perform. The 
first was easily done, but the last was of much vaster 
magnitude, and there were but few circumstances that 
would have justified its undertaking. Perhaps the near 
proximity of the rebels to Baltimore and Washington, and 
their defenceless condition, warranted the attempt to throw 
a small force across the intended track of a much superior 
force, and delay its advance as long as possible. Early, 
now satisfied with plunder, was probably intent upon 
capturing Washington, and if he could not do that, he was, 
doubtless, ready to compromise the matter, and allow his 
army to call upon their friends in Bakimore. It was not 
our wish to gratify his desire for conquest, nor were we 
quite willing to entertain the proposed compromise, at least 
not without a protest. Therefore Wallace did not retreat, 
and accept a rwnning fight and exposure to destruction on 
the Washington pike, nor did he throw his whole strength 
upon the Baltimore pike, and so leave the enemy free to go 
to Washington. He properly made a stand on the Monoc- 
acy, the only place to do so, between the enemy and his 
objective points. He manoeuvred his troops around Fred- 
,erick all the afternoon of the eighth, marching them off 



91 

sometimes out of sight, and then returning with a part or 
the whole of them, in a direction that would give them the 
appearance of arriving as reenforcements. At night he 
silently withdrew his little force, placing it beyond the river 
— Ricketts's Division at Mondcacy Junction and the hundred 
days' men at the stone bridge on the Baltimore pike, under 
command of General Tyler. 

At eight o'clock the next morning, the enemy was on all 
the roads leading out of Frederick. Citizens came rushing 
furiously down to the Junction with such household effects 
as they could snatch away in their haste and carry off. 
Doctor Barr, Surgeon-in-Chief of the division, Surgeon 
Rutherford, and the Chaplain of the Tenth Vermont, hav- 
ing engaged breakfast the night before, at the hotel in 
Frederick, wei^e now going leisurely up to fulfil their part of 
the contract, and had approached within one hundred and 
fifty yards of a squad of rebel cavalry, thinking they were 
our own ; we were soon undeceived, however, as the rebels 
gave us a volley from their carbines, at an uncomfortably 
short range. They were the first shots fired that morning. 
It was not the thing we had bargained for, and we ran. At 
this time some cavalry, going up the pike, were driven back, 
and our skirmish line, which was on the north bank of the 
river, posted along the railroad, in command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Chandler, became immediately engaged. The bat- 
tle of Monocacy had commenced. 

The main line of the division was formed, facing the 
river on the south bank, extending from the railroad across a 
low flat, running around out to a little ridge near the wooden 
bridge on the Washington pike. Our skirmishers held 
their line for an hour — in fact, until they were flanked on 
the left, and charged in front by a full line of battle. They 
then fell back to the south bank of the river, burning the 
bridge after them. This stopped the enemy's advance in 
front, though they kept at work with their batteries, shelling 



92 

us unmercifully. In the meantime a heavy force crossed 
the river, at a foi'd two miles below the wooden bridge, and 
advanced by the Buckeystown road, on to our flank and 
rear, driving in the small squad of cavalry posted some 
distance to our left. The First Brigade was immediately 
disposed to meet this attack, forming a line at right angles 
with the first, and extending along the pike from the river 
towards the Buckeystown road, facing west, with the Tenth 
Vermont on the extreme left. At three o'clock P. M., 
the first line of the rebels attacked sharply our left and 
centre, trying to bend it back so as to gain the pike in our 
rear, but they were speedily repulsed. The second line 
immediately came on and fared no better, although the 
struggle was more protracted and bloody. The enemy now 
withdrew a pace, and again undertook to go around our 
left ; again our line was stretched out, this time so thin it 
seemed as if it must break of its own tension, struggling 
constantly, and endeavoring to hold the ground, until Col- 
onel Stanton, who had unaccountably halted at Monrovia, 
eight miles away, should arrive with the balance of the 
Second Brigade. But that officer did not come up, and we 
held on, six regiments against as many brigades, for eight 
long hours, with not a man in reserve. At five o'clock, the 
enemy advanced again in still heavier force, upon our whole 
front, and at the same time brought our line under an enfi- 
lading fire, by a new disposition of his batteries on the 
farther bank of the river. General Wallace now ordered 
a retreat by a cross road running north to the Baltimore 
pike. But General Ricketts was unwilling, and, it is said, 
refused to retreat until he received a written order to that 
effect. This line of retreat compelled us to take a direction 
parallel to our line of battle. The right succeeded in reach- 
ing it, and most of the troops had made good their escape? 
but the enemy pressing up, and crossing the river at and 
above the railroad bridge, came near cutting off' the left, 



93 

and did entirely cut off the Tenth Vermont, so that we were 
obliged to cross a ridge, under a racking fire from musket 
and cannon, through a piece of woods, which the same 
deadly missiles splintered around us, over a meadow, where 
the angry messengers still pursued us, and down to the rail- 
road, along which we finally escaped. That night we 
marched to New Market, where we rejoined the division. 
Next morning the whole command moved on to Ellicott's 
Mills, arriving there at two o'clock P. M. The Tenth 
Vermont was immediately sent to the Relay House, reach- 
ing our destination the same evening, with only sixty-nine 
men and a dozen officers fit for duty. But it is due to say 
that this reduction was caused very largely by the severity 
of the march from the IMonocacy, and after a day's absence 
many reported missing rejoined the command. 

Now as to the results of this battle : The inequality of 
numbers has been fairly stated — five thousand against fifteen 
thousand ; and the reader must judge how much the two 
thousand raw, undisciplined one hundred days' men, reduced 
the efficiency of the smaller force. We had one battery of 
six six-pound iron guns, Captain Alexander's, of Baltimore, 
and a small mountain howitzer, about as good as a pop- 
gun, which were miserably posted, and badly woi'ked. The 
rebels had eighteen pieces of heavy Napoleons, in admirable 
position and skillfully handled. The only wonder is, that 
they did not crush us at once by weight of numbers and 
heavy metal, or swoop down and hawk us vip instantly. 

The losses in our*division, were as follows : Officers — 
killed, thirteen ; wounded, twenty-five ; prisoners, one ; miss- 
ing three. Men — killed, ninety-three ; wounded, four hundred 
and eighty-one ; prisoners, one hundred and eighty-three ; 
missing, three hundred and twenty-four, making a total loss 
of one thousand and twenty-five. These figures are taken 
from records made on the night following the battle, and 
without doubt a very large percentage of the missing returned 



94 

to their respective commands ; it is certainly known that 
many did who were at first reported " missing." 

The rebel losses are not exactly known, although one 
fact may serve us, in something of an estimate. They left 
four hundred severely wounded in the hospital at Frederick, 
found there a few days after, when we reoccupied the place ; 
their slightly woimded could not have been less than that 
number, and their killed must have greatly exceeded ours, 
for the reason that their lines were twice or thrice as heavy, 
affording a surer target for our rifles. 

The veterans of the Third Division have justly believed 
that another result followed this bloody engagement — a 
result commensurate with the sacrifices they made ; and it 
will certainly be pardonable, if one who had the honor to be 
identified with them, though in a capacity that partook of a 
nature eminently peaceful, should record their convictions 
and defend their claims. They believed that Washington 
was saved — perhaps from the torch and destruction — cer- 
tainly from assault, with the extreme probabilities of capture 
and temporary occupation, by their heroic struggles at the 
Monocacy, and the Tenth Vermont claims an equal share of 
the honor that shall be accredited to this Division. It has 
been said that Early, after the battle, had he pushed on by 
forced marches, might have captured Washington before any 
force sufficient to successfully resist him could have been 
interposed. The credit of having saved the Capital when it 
was threatened has been accorded to the Sixth Corps, mean- 
ing the two divisions that threw themselves into its defences 
on the twelfth. To be sure, these divisions were just in the 
"nick of time" to avert whatever catastrophe awaited it. 
Early having reached the city, or approached within a few 
miles of the White House, where the sharp ci-ack of his 
rifles could be heard in the council-rooms of the President 
and at the War Department, had they not "hurried" from 
the landing to the point threatened, they would have been 



95 

too late to have rendered the service most needed, as it 
was. Now, if it is readily conceded that the timely arrival 
and ever prompt and vigorous action of these divisions 
prevented the rebel assault, and drove him away, sorely 
punished for his audacity, what ought to be said of the 
other divisions of this corps, that encountered the invader, 
arrested him within three hours march of the city, and 
detained him thirty-six hours at an awful sacrifice of life, 
while he was pressing eagerly on to seize it, then unguarded, 
or at best, wretchedly defended ? Bear in mind that the force 
defending, or that assumed to defend, the Capital up to this 
time, was extemporized for a mere show of resistance. 
The only force, therefore, that Early needed for one moment 
to fear, and that was only possible to have been interposed, 
was thrown in after these thirty-six hours detention. It is 
a sacrilegious hand that would undertake to pluck a feather 
from the plumes of these divisions, whose deeds are immor- 
tal, but Washington was saved, not on the twelfth of July, 
before the parapets of Fort Stevens, but on the ninths when 
Ricketts's Division, encouraged and steadied by their brave 
commander, stretching out their lines " as thin as a blue 
ribbon," defied the solid battalions of the enemy, from 
eight o'clock in the morning until five in the evening, and 
bruised them so that they could not stir until the next day at 
sundown. 

Nor was this a heedless sacrifice, assuming that Wash- 
ington was in danger. General Wright, with the first and 
second divisions of his corps, reached the city on the 
morning of the twelfth. Early had arrived at Rockville the 
afternoon before, although a squad of his cavalry had 
approached even nearer, some time during the tenth. Like 
a prudent general, he did not choose to attack our works 
until they had been reconnoitered. The lateness of the 
hour, and the weariness of his troops at the time of his 
arrival, doubtless determined him to defer this until the 



96 

morrow. The morning came, and he had begun slowly to 
feel his way up to Fort Stevens, when a heavy skirmish 
line, and finally a line of battle from the First Division, 
deployed in his front and forbade further progress. Unless, 
therefore, it can be shown that General Wright could have 
arrived some time before he did, it was necessary that Early 
be detained somewhere beyond striking distance of the 
Capital, or he would have had ample time to have tested 
the spirit and pluck of the clerks and government employes 
who alone manned the defences of Washington. 

The officers and men of the Tenth Vermont have ever 
entertained sentiments of just pride for the part they took in 
this battle, which have been shared, no doubt, as they were 
equally entitled to praise, by other regiments of the division 
present. It would be unjust not to say that the stubborn 
resistance of these troops was in a large measure due to the 
personal presence and sterling bravery of General James B. 
Ricketts, their heroic commander, and Colonel Billy Truax, 
commanding the First Brigade. 

After the retreat, the division, with the exception of the 
Tenth Vermont, was left at Ellicott's Mills. On the eleventh, 
they took cars for Baltimore. Our defeat had " set all the 
city in an uproar," but the presence of veterans somewhat 
reassured the inhabitants. The Ninth New York was 
detailed for duty in the forts, and the balance of the division 
encamped at Mount Clare Station and at Druid Hill Park 
until the fourteenth. This disposition was made to guard 
against any attack of Johnson's rebel cavalry, which had 
followed up our retreat. But he did not come nearer than 
Magnolia Station, on the Baltimore, Wilmington and Phila- 
delphia Railroad, where a detachment under Hany Gilmor 
burned the depot and the Gunpowder Bridge near by. Here 
that gallant gentleman, a specimen of Southern chivalry, 
stopped the morning train northward, and personally super- 
ntended the robbing of the passengers and the United 



97 

States mail. Here Major-General Franklin was captured, 
but afterwards made his escape. It was said that some 
ladies (?), friends of the raider, went out to meet him, 
carrying provisions and wine, and pointing out those 
whom they knew to be sympathizers with the Union, for 
this brigand to rob. He also burned Governor Bradford'^ 
suburban residence. But this was to avenge the act of 
General Hunter in burning ex-Governor Letcher's house at 
Lexington, Virginia, who had issued a proclamation calling 
upon the citizens to bushwhack his men ; so was the burn- 
ing of Postmaster-General Blair's house, at Silver Springs. 
To make this retaliation complete, no doubt, Chambersburg 
was laid in ashes, and one-half of Williamsport. Who 
knows but the fierce attempt to burn New York, and the 
still more barbarous plot to introduce the plague, were born 
in the smouldering embers of Letcher's house.'' 

On the fourteenth, the division took cars for Washington, 
and at night bivouacked just north of the railroad station 
under the shadow of the Capital. Next day continued the 
march through Georgetown, Tennallytown to Oftut's Cross 
Roads and so on, while the other divisions of the Sixth 
Corps had gone in pursuit of Early. We were grandly 
cheered as we passed up Pennsylvania Avenue, escorted by 
many citizens eager to do us honor, far on our way, for the 
part we had taken in the defence of the city. Perhaps some 
officers will recollect the investment they made in a "square 
meal" at a French restaurant on the evening of our arrival 
from the Relay House. Ask them and they will tell you in 
regretful accents, "We do." On the sixteenth, this division 
forded the Potomac two miles below Edwards Ferry, and 
at night, wet and blistered, camped on the Leesburg pike, 
half a mile from Goose Creek. At Leesburg, next day, 
we overtook the Nineteenth Corps, just from Louisiana, and 
gushing with memories of Red River. Here we found 
Colonel, since General Thomas, and afterwards Lieutenant- 



98 

Governor of Vermont, in command of our Eighth Regiment, 
doing guard duty in the town. He was a sort of miHtary 
Governor, and the people were very quiet under the firm, 
vigilant rule of the General, who knew how to govern in a 
civil capacity as well as he understood the performance of 
daring manoeuvres on the battle field. Passing through this 
place, a nest of guerrillas during the war, we rejoined the 
Sixth Corps on the evening of the seventeenth. General 
Wright now had an army of probably twenty-five thousand 
men of all arms, consisting of his own corps, the Nineteenth, 
under General Emery, and Crook's command, a body of 
troops numbering from five to eight thousand, more or less, 
that had always operated in Western Virginia and the 
lower part of the Shenandoah Valley. In the movements 
now under consideration, however, this command turned 
out to be little more than an army of observation in the field, 
if such a term is allowable. In explanation, it may be 
added, we were now only to watch and not fight the 
enemy, unless compelled to do so. 

On the eighteenth, this army marched through Snickers- 
ville, and the Gap from which the straggling village takes it 
name, slowly moved down the rough, winding road of the 
mountain-side into the valley, and reached the Shenandoah 
River at Island Ford at six o'clock P. M. On the opposite 
shore, Early, now having safely gained the line of his 
communication with Richmond, confronted us, and was 
guarding all the fords between Harper's Ferry on the north, 
and Berryville on the south. This one seemed to be more 
feebly defended than the rest, and in order to know 
precisely what the strength and purpose of the enemy were, 
Crook's command was thrown over the river, but his 
advance was furiously attacked and the whole command 
hurled back in confusion, just as the Third Division had 
taken a position to support him. Many of his men were 
drowned while hastening through the stream from the 



99 

enemy's fire. The scene closed for the night with an 
artillery duel, conducted from two commanding ridges on 
opposite banks of the river, very much to the annoyance of 
our infantry, which had been dropped into an open field 
stretching back behind the ridge occupied by our batteries. 
In this position we lay during the nineteenth. On the 
twentieth, the enemy having entirely disappeared, this army- 
crossed the river at two points — Island Ford and Snicker's 
Ferry — and moved half way up to Berry ville, say three 
miles from the river, finding no sign of an enemy. It was 
supposed that he had retreated south. That night, at ten 
o'clock, the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps started back 
reforded the river, reclimbed the mountain, and sped on, 
wet, hungry and sore, towards Washington, under orders, 
since learned, for Petersburg. We returned via Leesburg, 
Drairisville, Lewinsville and Chain Bridge, arriving and 
halting just outside of its northern defences, on the twenty- 
third. Here ordnance stores, clothing, etc., were issued, 
the trains refitted, and most of the ti'oops paid off. 

But Early did not go for south after withdrawing from 
Wright's front at Snicker's Ferry, probably not above Win- 
chester, and when Crook advanced, on the twenty-third, he 
was attacked and driven back upon Martinsburg with haste 
and loss. The next day he retreated across the Potomac, and 
left that part of Maryland opposite and down to the Monoc- 
acy, and Southern* Pennsylvania, open to Early's merciless 
raiders. They barbarously improved their opportunity^, and 
went forth into the defenceless country, laying large contri- 
butions of gold upon the cities and towns, and giving them 
to the torch when it was impossible to respond to their 
immense demands. They robbed the panic-stricken inhab- 
itants of cattle, horses, provisions and grain, in a manner 
that never can be justified, since the inhabitants made no 
hostile sign against them. 

These demonstrations developed the necessity for a larger 



lOO 



force upon the Upper Potomac than had been left there on 
the twenty-first. Consequently the Sixth and Nineteenth 
Corps, on the twenty-sixth, were moving on the Rockville 
pike, en route for Harper's Ferry. The twenth-eighth found 
us at Monocacy Junction, Crossing the battle-field so long 
and so bravely contested by the Third Division on the ninth of 
July, now and forever anointed in our memories, we dis- 
covered several of our own and of the enemy's dead still 
unburied. These were all carefully interred. 

We also visited the hospital at Frederick, where three 
hundred of our severely wounded had been placed by the 
rebels after the battle, and a larger number of their own, 
which they were compelled to leave behind. In the hospital 
there were Sisters of Charity, kindly caring for all the 
wounded alike. We were struck with the remarkable devo- 
tion of these most amiable ladies, as they moved with noise- 
less steps, with mercy in their very looks, speaking warm, 
sympathizing words of cheerful encouragment and Christian 
love, while in both hands each bore the ministry of nour- 
ishing food and soothing cordials. They appeared perfectly 
unconscious of all those circumstances from which delicate 
and sensitive natures are supposed to shrink, and we saw 
them bending tenderly over patient sufferers, to speak words 
of comfort, to loose or adjust a bandage, to replace a com- 
press, or bathe a fevered limb, and, in fact, to do the work 
of men, for men, with woman's gentleness. Many of our 
men had died of their wounds, and among them was Willie 
Peabody, a noble fellow. First Sergeant of Company C, 
from Pitsford, Vermont. They told us how they " loved 
the boy," and how sad it seemed to see his bright face pale 
in death. 

At four o'clock P. M., we hurried away on the Harper's 
Ferry pike, and reached that place at noon the twenty- 
ninth, halting at Halltown Heights, just north of the 
ruins of the United States Armory. The next day the 



lOI 



army started back, recrossing the Potomac at the Ferry. 
Although the cohimn was in motion long before noon of 
the thirtieth, yet the Sixth Corps did not reach Petersville, 
sixteen miles distant, vmtil sunrise the next morning, so 
o-reat was the jam of artillery, trains and troops, in the nar- 
row pass at Sandy Hook. Five hours later, we were again 
on the march, sweltering along the pike to Frederick. The 
weather was now so oppressively hot, and our marches so 
fatiguing, that, notwithstanding the men had been so long 
and so well inured to hardships, many of them died from 
sunstroke. We remained in the vicinity of Fi-ederick, and at 
Monocacy Mill, near Buckeystown, five days. While here, 
several officers of the Tenth Vermont took occasion to visit 
old friends at the mouth of the Monocacy, ten or twelve 
miles distant, whom we had known in the early part of our 
military existence, and we saw how wofully the farmers in 
Frederick and Montgomery Counties had suflered in the 
sweeping raids of Early's and Mosby's men. Neither foe 
nor friend escaped ; if in sympathy with the rebellion, they 
paid tribute with what they had, and if enemies, all was 
taken and deemed a just reprisal. 



I02 



CHAPTER VI. 

In the Shenandoah Valley. 

ON the fifth of August, we moved up to Monocacy Junc- 
tion, where the memorable campaign that swept out 
the Shenandoah Valley and locked its southern door against 
the traitor, was inaugurated. On the fifth, also, General 
Grant arrived ; he was instantly recognized by the old Poto- 
mac soldiers, and greeted with rounds of hearty cheers. 
His visit, we doubted not, was something more than com- 
plimentary. The following order soon appeared : 

"Monocacy Bridge, Md., ) 
August 5, 1864. ) 
" General — 

"Concentrate all your force without delay, in the vicinity 
of Harper's Ferry, leaving only such railroad guards and 
garrisons for public property as may be necessary. Use, in 
this concentration, railroads, if by so doing time can be 
saved ; if it is found that the enemy has moved north of the 
Potomac in large force, push north, follow them, and attack 
them wherever found ; follow them, if driven south of the 
Potomac, as long as it is safe to do so. 

"If it is ascertained that the enemy has but a small force 
north of the Potomac, then push south with the main force, 
detaching under a competent commander a sufficient force 
to look after the raiders, and drive them to their homes. 
In detaching such a force, the brigade of cavalry now en 
route from Washington via Rockville, may be taken into 
the account. 



103 

" There are now on the way to join you, three other 
brigades of cavahy, numbering at least five thousand men 
and horses. These will be instructed, in absence of further 
orders, to join you on the south side of the Potomac ; one 
brigade will start to-morrow. 

" In pushing up the Shenandoah Valley, where it is 
expected you will have to go first or last, it is desirable that 
nothing should be left to invite the enemy to return. Take 
all provisions, forage and stock, wanted for your command, 
and such as can not be consumed destroy. It is not desir- 
able that the buildings should be destroyed ; they should 
rather be protected, but the people should be informed that 
as long as an army can subsist among them, recurrences 
of these raids must be expected, and we are determined to 
stop them at all hazards. 

" Bear in mind that the object is to drive the enemy 
south, and to do this, you want to keep the enemy always in 
sight. Be guarded in this course by the course they take. 
Make arrangements for supplies of all kinds, giving regu- 
lar vouchers for such as may be taken from loyal citizens in 
the country through which you march. 

''U. S. GRANT, 

" Lieutenant-General U. S. Armies. 

"Major-General David Hunter." 

These instructions were issued to General Hunter, but 
were very soon turned over to his successor. The concen- 
tration of the troops took place the next day, moving by rail 
to Harper's Ferry. On the eighth appeared an order assign- 
ing Major-General P. H. Sheridan to the command of a new 
Middle Department, comprising the departments of Wash- 
ington, West Virginia and the Susquehanna. Including 
the cavalry, which had now arrived, the army ready to oper- 
ate in the Shenandoah Valley numbered, probably, thirty 



I04 

thousand men, well equipped eveiy way. According to all 
estimates the rebel force did not vary much from these figures. 
We remained in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry four days. 
The enemy were in the neighborhood of Winchester, thresh- 
ing wheat, as ascertained by a reconnoisance by the cavalry. 
At five A. M., on the tenth, the whole army moved out and 
pressed vigorously up the Valley, every foot of which we 
were destined to become familiar with, in the three succeed- 
ing months, from Harper's Ferry to Mount Crawford, by 
an experience at once weary, sad and triumphant. At eight 
o'clock we reached Charlestown, the place made famous as 
the scene of the imprisonment, trial and execution of John 
Brown. The soldiers had not forgotten this thrilling page 
of history — perhaps the introductory chapter to the annals 
of the rebellion ; and as they marched through the town, 
everywhere decaying, everywhere seared by what seemed to 
be more the work of retributive justice than acts of vengeful 
retaliation, for the injustice and mockery it had heaped upon 
an old man who, maddened by the wrongs he and his coun. 
trymen and his kindred had endured, and inspired by a 
devotional sense of right, had dared to defy a line of the 
statute book, under whose license the people of the Slave 
States had usurped human rights for a hundred years — as 
they marched through these streets, it seemed as if every 
soul was touched with the memorj- of the old hero, and ten 
thousand voices broke forth into singing — 

"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground." 

A dozen bands played the air to which these words were 
set ; and what with the music, the singing, and the measured 
tread of thirty thousand men, with their very muscles, as 
well as their vocal organs, in time and tune, afforded a spec- 
tacle that time cannot erase from the memory of the partici- 
pant or the beholder. Surely, his soul is " marching on." 



I05 

This was one. of the real Battle Hymns of the Republic, 
and its ringing chorus had a mysterious inspiration, that 
ever brought rest and quickened pace to weary feet, and 
awakened fresh zeal in desponding hearts. 

We pursued a course through forests, and across fields, 
whose shade and soft matting of leaves afforded a delightful 
shield to our heads from the rays of the sun and a relief 
to our feet from the hard road-ways of the usual routes. 
Between Berryville and Winchester, we camped at night, 
in line of battle facing west at Clifton's farm. Early the 
next morning the army was again moving forward, this day 
the Tenth Vermont guarding the wagon train. On the 
twelfth, we passed Newton and Middleton, arriving at 
Cedar Creek at six P. M., where we found the enemy posted 
on the opposite bank, having retreated from Winchester on 
the tenth. Some of Crook's men were sent over, and a 
brisk skirmish immediately ensued, which lasted until dark. 
The next morning. Early was well posted on Fisher's Hill, 
and our line was consequently advanced, the army follow- 
ing to a ridge, just north of Strasburg, with the picket line 
extending through and east of the town along the railroad. 
It may not have been General Sheridan's purpose to attack 
the enemy at this time, even had he been found in a less 
difficult position. Whether it was or not, certainly it was 
a wise judgment that forebore. That night he withdrew 
to the opposite or northern bank of Cedar Creek, where 
he manoeuvred for a day or two, inviting a battle, on the 
ground he had chosen. But the enemy only amused him 
just enough to keep him in his position while they were 
maturing plans, which, had they been successful, would 
have crushed him, and might have deceived a less vigilant 
commander. On the sixteenth, Torbert's cavalry was 
attacked at Front Royal, by a strong force of cavalry and 
infantry, under the rebel General Kenshaw. Torbert held 
his ground, and captured some prisoners, but the fact that 



io6 



this large force was in the Luray Valley, just at its mouth, 
showed that Early had designed it as a part of a combined 
movement, from this point and his owft position on Fisher's 
Hill, to strike Sheridan upon his right and left and destroy 
him. The only counter-movement that could now defeat 
this well devised scheme was an advance backwards, and its 
execution was not long delayed. That night found us 
making commendable speed towards Winchester, nor did 
we tarry long by the way, until we reached Summit Point, 
near Charlestown, on the evening of the eighteenth. The 
enemy followed closely and overtook our rear guard at 
Winchester, where they captured a part of the First New 
Jersey Brigade. Otherwise the retreat was conducted with- 
out loss. 

At Charlestown our trains came up ; rations were issued, 
but not too soon, for three days' rations had already been 
stretched out to five. Here also we began to establish, 
somewhat, a regular camp, and lay very quietly, and we 
supposed securely, until the morning of the twenty-first, 
when the picket line of the Second Division was driven in, 
while the troops were making preparations for Sunday 
morning inspection. So rapid was this movement of the 
enemy, that their bullets whistling through the camp was 
almost the first warning of their approach. The Vermont 
Brigade was immediately sent out to reestablish the line, 
which they did ; and they did it with so much show of mettle 
they became involved in a smart little fight which lasted 
all day, and came very near bringing on a general engage- 
ment. Our Third Division was promptly put into line of 
battle, works were thrown up, and an irregular fusilade 
kept up at our end of the line all day. On our part this 
affair could hardly be called a fight ; only two men in the 
division were killed, and eleven wounded in our brigade. 
But the losses of the day fell far heavier upon the Vermont 
Brigade, and quite severely upon the Sixth and Eleventh Reg- 



io7 

iments. Lieutenant-Colonel Chamberlain, of the Eleventh, 
was mortally wounded in the early part of the action, and 
died a few hours after. He is spoken of as an exceedingly 
brave, accomplished, and pure minded officer, worthily 
beloved by all who knew him. 

At dark the army withdrew to its old position at Hall- 
town, Sheridan himself, it was said, constituting its rear 
guard. We remained at Halltown six days, in comparative 
quiet, although the cavalry kept a close watch upon the 
enemy, often tempting him to fight by dashing saucily 
through his lines, capturing his videttes, and now and then, 
from a respectful distance, hurling a score of shell into his 
camp. Finally, after making an unsuccessful endeavor — 
the last he ever made — to cross the river again at Williams- 
port, he fell back behind Charlestown, scattering his forces 
across the country from Smithfield to Berryville. On the 
twenty-eighth, Sheridan followed, pursuing so closely with 
Torbert's Cavalry and our Third Division pushed up on to 
his left flank, that Early was compelled to show his strength. 
On the third of September, Crook assailed his right on the 
Berryville pike, near Opequan Creek, in which he severely 
handled and drove him back. Sheridan now sat down at 
and in the vicinity of Clifton, for fifteen days, with his 
army compact and well in hand. Early was just beyond 
the Opequan, with his army stretched across the country, so 
that his front presented the short side of an acute angle, 
facing east, with the Berryville pike on his right, and the 
Martinsburg pike on his left, forming the two long sides ; 
its apex lay behind him at Winchester, where the two roads 
intersect. 

The two armies were, perhaps, three miles apart, vigi- 
lantly watching each other. And yet so quiet were our 
camps that it would have been difl!icult for an outside 
observer to have guessed that a foe, foiled in a dozen pur- 
poses, strong and watchful, lay so near. 



io8 



On the sixth, the men of the Tenth Regiment, as legal 
voters in the State of Vermont, held a town meeting, or rather 
an election, town-meeting fashion, and did what they could 
toward electing John Gregory Smith, Governor of the State. 
On the fifteenth, the Second Division, with a brigade of cav- 
alry, made a reconnoissance towards the Opequan ; a part 
of the Vermont Brigade, deployed as skirmishers, crossed 
the creek, exchanged a few shots with the enemy, and then 
retired, having accomplished, as was usual with that organ- 
ization, all that was expected or desired of them. 

Thus a fortnight passed. No other hostile operation 
was undertaken by the infantry, although the cavalry were 
exceedingly active, most of the time, visiting vengeance upon 
the guerrillas, and making reprisals of forage and supplies 
upon the disloyal inhabitants. This rest was needed, and 
most gratefully welcomed. A careful estimate at this time, 
shows that our division had marched seven hundred miles 
since landing at Baltimore on the eighth of July, and the 
result had told heavily upon the troops. Most of our men 
were sick, and several officers were absent on sick leave ; 
among the latter, Colonel Henry, Lieutenant-Colonel Chand- 
ler, and Captain, since Major, Salsbury. Most of the other 
divisions had performed nearly the same distances. But 
the hour had come when all must march again — this time 
to victory. 

Sheridan's Battle of Winchester. 

The respective positions of the two armies have been 
heretofore described. No variation of numbers has taken 
place, other than to equalize them. On the seventeenth, 
General Grant met Sheridan at Charlestown, and after a brief 
conference, delivered to his lieutenant that famous order 
"Go in," which finally resulted in a Go out to the rebel 
army in the Valley. Mr. Pollard, formerly editor of the 



I09 

Richmond Examine}-^ who has attempted to perpetuate the 
memory of the great crime of the South, in a fulsome work 
entitled The Lost Cause^ describes this order as "inelegant" 
and much in accordance "with that taste for slang which 
seems to characterize the military literature of the North." 
Doubtless these "two words of instruction" were not 
eminently classical, still they will stand a very fair compar- 
ison with that miserable patois of which "you uns," "we 
uns," "right smart distance", "whar yer at," etc., are 
samples, peculiar it is true, to the lower classes, but by no 
means ignored in conversation by the upper class of the 
South. 

On the eighteenth, at four o'clock P. M., orders reached 
our brigade, directing that we be ready to march at a 
moment's notice. The men of our command were waiting 
for the church call, but at the hour designated for the 
service, the bugle in clear shrill notes sounded the "fall in." 
Tents were struck and the men, with equipments on, were 
immediately in line. Probably this call was premature, for 
definite instructions soon reached us, directing us to be 
ready to move at twelve o'clock, midnight. Ordnance 
stores and five days' rations were issued, the sick were sent 
off and all felt that a movement of more than casual 
importance was on the tapis. Thoughts of an impending 
battle forced themselves upon us. The soldiers instinctively 
felt that the hour had arrived when Early's army, that had 
twice invaded the North within the past two months, and 
constantly threatened Washington dui-ing this period of time 
— who had so often and so haughtily thrown down the 
gage of battle, should receive the chastisement it deserved. 
Although the line of march had not been indicated to the 
troops, none entertained a doubt in regard to the direction 
we would take — a contest was certain. Officers at the 
mess table spoke in subdued voices of what the issue might 



no 



be to them. The conversation of men, gathered here and 
there in groups, around the smoldering camp-fires, was of 
that serious and solemn nature which in experienced minds 
marks the eve of great events. 

Twelve o'clock came, and we were ready to move, but 
we did not start until three hours later. The Sixth Corps 
struck oft' across the fields, and by cross roads reached the 
Berryville and Winchester pike at sunrise. The cavalry 
under Torbert, with Sheridan, had preceded us, the Eighth 
and Nineteenth Corps following after. We passed rapidly 
on, the Second Division taking the lead, the First following 
the Second, and the Third in the rear of the corps, crossed 
the Opequan, moved up through a narrow ravine, wooded 
on either flank, and deployed at ten o'clock, A. M., on the 
right and left of the pike, just at the mouth of the ravine. 
We never could have passed this defile, had not the cavalry 
first cleared the way by a surprise upon the enemy there, 
earlier in the day, and held it at a terrible cost, until the 
infantry came up. 

The cavalry was now relieved, and a line of battle was 
formed under a murderous fire from the enemy's batteries, 
with the Second Division on the left of the pike, the Third 
resting on the right, and the First reserved in the rear of the 
Third, lapping by our left behind one brigade of the Second. 
Skirmishers were thrown out, and immediately engaged. 
The main line stood its ground, and did not move for two dis- 
mal hours, the rebel shells plunging right over and through 
the ranks all the time. At twelve o'clock the Nineteenth 
Corps came up, having been delayed by some cause on the 
east bank of the Opequan until now, and went into position 
on the right of our division. Early had lost a splendid 
opportunity. Had he attacked with all his force at hand, 
instead of waiting for the return of detachments, which he 
had the day before sent off* to Bunker Hill, he must have 



Ill 



crushed his antagonist, and hurled him in fragments into 
the gorge and through the woods behind him. This oppor-. 
tunity had slipped away. 

At last the signal for the advance was given, and the 
line quickly emerged from the woods, which had partially 
sheltered the troops, into the open field. Right before 
them, not more than six hundred yards distant, in plain 
sight, the rebels were waiting to "welcome them with 
bloody hands to /V2hospitable graves." Most of the ground 
over which the troops were to pass, was hard, sloping away 
without bush or mound to break the vision or stop a bullet, 
terminating its declivity in a narrow, winding ravine, out of 
which arose sharp, jutting bluffs, forming a high, irregular 
crest. On this crest, commanding a view of every inch of 
ground before them to the woods, both with artillery and 
musketry, the enemy was fortified. The ground before the 
Third Division was a somewhat sharper descent, to a wider, 
marshy level, or what seemed to be a branch of the ravine 
extending along the pike ; but, though not commanded by 
all of the enemy's line, yet exposed to enough to sweep its 
entire breadth. 

When the men saw with one glance the terrible fate that 
awaited them, they halted, with or without orders, and lay 
down. This position is customary with old soldiers, when 
inevitable destruction stares them in the face, and there is no 
other escape. It 'will be borne in mind that our division 
was on the right of the pike, and that the troops connecting 
with our left, was the left of the line. The original order 
was to guide from right to left, hence the right must lead 
the advance. But no troops on the right of the pike could 
be prevailed upon to move for some time ; they seemed 
frozen to the earth. It was the business of the Nineteenth 
Corps to lead in the movement, as the design was in 
advancing to swing around to the left. Consequently our 
division did not move. 



112 



Finally, the Vermont Brigade, on our immediate left, 
either by direction from Corps Headquarters, or else upon 
their own responsibility, arose and darted forward. The 
Third Division essayed to follow their example, but the first 
line was thrown into confusion, and finally gave away, or 
became mingled with the Second, which stood its ground. 
After this detention they also moved rapidly forward, but 
with no connection on the left, or steady support on the 
right. The Second Division, which had dashed ahead, 
obliqued far to the left, as if following by instinct the original 
order, and striking towards the enemy's right flank, where 
they really delivered the first effective blow, and thoroughly 
broke his line. The Nineteenth Corps had now rallied and 
moved forward, but with too much impetuosity, and with 
an irregularity that destroyed its coherence and lost its con- 
nection on the left, and which also left a gap between its 
own left and the Third Division, which had been struggling 
steadily but slowly forward against the enemy's centre, every 
man nobly striving to redeem the threatened disaster at 
the start. The enemy instantly rushed into this opening 
in our lines, and swinging mainly to the left, as they ad- 
vanced with a yell, threw the Nineteenth Corps, or at least 
its left and centre, if the irregular condition of its first line 
could be thus described, into confusion, while at the same 
time they rubbed off" a small part of our right. Atone time 
it seemed as if the battle on this side of the pike would be 
lost, and it was saved only by the prompt and skillful action 
of the brave General Russell, who brought up his First 
Division not an instant too soon, and, with Upton's brigade, 
struck the charging column of the rebels in flank, drove 
them back and rectified this part of the line. He then 
relieved the Third Division, which went farther to the right, 
and the second line of the Nineteenth Corps took the place 
of the First Division. In the meantime the Second Division, 
which had gone so far ahead of everything else, had been 



"3 

drawn back, in order to present an unbroken front. Thus 
order was restored, and the attack had been successful, but 
at considerable cost. General David A. Russell, the be- 
loved commander of the First Division, was killed. 

At three o'clock the enemy had taken up a new position 
near Winchester, thinking, perhaps, that the fighting was 
over, and the battle drawn. But they did not know their 
antagonist, Sheridan, spent two hours in reassuring his 
men, issuing ammunition and making new combinations for 
another attack. Crook's command, which had crossed the 
Opequan some distance below the pike, had not yet been in 
the fight. He was now sent, Averill's and Merritt's divis- 
ions of cavalry joining his force, around our right, to the 
railroad, and to the east of the Winchester and Alartinsburg 
pike, ready to sweep down upon the enemy's flank and rear, 
who was drawn up around Winchester, facing north and 
west. This movement, and the advance along the front, 
were to be made simultaneously. While these manoeuvres 
were going on, Sheridan, with the fire of heroism flashing 
from his eyes, rode at a dashing speed along the whole front 
of his line, amid whistling bullets and screeching shell, say- 
ing, it is said, to his men: "Hold on here, boys. Crook 
and Averill are on their flank and rear, and we are going to 
hustle them out of this." Whether he ever said this or not, 
certainly his combinations meant it, and his subsequent 
operations did it. 

These lines charged in front, flank and rear, simulta- 
neously. It was one steady, orderly, resistless movement ; 
only for an instant did the line seem to waver, and then but 
seem, as if the shock of dead men falling against the living 
caused the momentary trembling. 

"Then on they press, and here renew the carnage," 

until the enemy broke and fled pell-mell through "Win- 



114 

Chester town." It was not a retreat, but a helpless rout, 
with our men pursuing and shouting with an impetu- 
osity and vigor that would have been impossible to resti^ain. 
Infantry, cavalry and artillery vied in the speed of pursuit, 
and every man felt that he was a victor. The combined 
and harmonious movement of all arms of the service, strug- 
gling for this achievement through the storm of death that 
howled around them, without faltering, was a sight for a 
painter. But when the troops beheld the yielding lines of 
the rebels, saw their battalions dissolve in their fire, rolling 
up in fierce enveloping waves, the certainty of victory now 
impelling them- onward, the scene was grand beyond de- 
scription. Oh, how wildly did the victors fling their glad 
shouts into the "troubled air" ! No victory of the war, save 
the last, inspired such hopes throughout the country, and 
awakened such a thrill of genuine patriotic joy in every 
loyal heart. Probably no troops taking part in this battle 
rejoiced in the enemy's defeat more than those of the Third 
Division of the Sixth Corps. The enemy had done this 
very thing, on a smaller scale, for us on the ninth of July, 
and we were ever afterwards willing to stake Winchester 
on Monocacy. 

The estimated losses to the enemy, probably not far 
from exact, were five thousand prisoners, five pieces of 
artillery, seven thousand small arms, four thousand killed 
and wounded, besides many battle flags. At Winchester 
we saw among the captures of the day, Alexander's Battery 
wagon, lost at Monocacy. Our losses, every way, were 
between four and five thousand. The casualties of the 
Tenth were ten killed and forty-six wounded. Four officers 
were wounded, two mortally, one severely and one slightly. 
Major Dillingham fell, with his leg twisted off" by a solid 
shot, while attending to the alignment of his regiment, under 
the first shock of the enemy's fire, and lived but a few hours. 
Lieutenant Hill was wounded at the first advance of our 



"5 

line, by a part of the contents of a case-shot. His limb was 
carefully amputated at the upper third of the thigh, but he 
died a few weeks after in the hospital at Winchester. Lieu- 
tenant Abbott was severely wounded, and Captain Davis 
slightly. After the fall of Major Dillingham the command 
fell to Captain, since Major, L. T. Hunt, who reported both 
officers and men as having nobly performed their part in 
the operations of the day. Conspicuous among the brave, 
was Adjutant, since Major, Wyllis Lyman, who, by his 
admirable soldierly conduct, became a stimulating example 
to others, and what is said of him may be said of both 
officers and men. 

Darkness alone prevented the complete destruction of 
Early's army. At what hour of the night he ceased his 
flight we do not know ; but following our cavalry, which 
moved at dawn the next morning, we pursued along the 
Strasburg pike and did not come in sight of his rear guard 
until we approached the high ground beyond Cedar Creek. 
Crossing this stream, we went into camp on the night of 
the twentieth, upon the same ground we had occupied just 
four weeks before, and the enemy, now as then, was in the 
same respective position. But somehow we felt now as if 
we had a sort of presumptive right to do so — we were the 
royal purveyors of the soil. 

Fisher's Hill. 

Coming in between Winchester and Cedar Creek, in the 
order of time, the battle of Fisher's Hill, at this late date, 
seems a mere episode to vary the grand monotony of Sheri- 
dan's victorious march up the Valley. Yet it was a brilliant, 
a wonderful battle. This height, the scene of this battle, is 
thirty miles south of Winchester, within a mile of Stras- 
burg, and near the mouth of the Luray Valley, which de- 
bouches into the Shenandoah a short distance to the east, as 



ii6 



one stream flows into another. Here the width of the Shen- 
andoah Valley, averaging, below, fifteen miles, is pinched 
up to four miles, between what are called the Massanutten 
and the Little North Mountains, the former on the left as 
you go south, and the latter on the right. The river washes 
the broad foot of the Massanutten, and borders the eastern 
edge of the Valley. Fisher's Hill is so formed that it ap- 
pears a huge, high-fronted billow of earth and i-ocks, which 
had some time been rolling down the Valley, and become 
strangled between these two mountains and held still, with 
its frowning crest looking northward, where it now sternly 
faced our advance. 

The enemy was posted upon this crest, immediately 
behind fortifications, with his front protected by a lower 
range of hills, ploughed between by ragged ravines. The 
railroad, also running generally north and south, facing the 
lines of either army, gashed these hills, crossed, at a tremen- 
dous elevation, a brook that found its crooked way here, 
along down to the river. All these furnished good shelter 
for our men from the enemy's sharpshooters and his artil- 
lery, when we lay in position. But there were many 
exposed points to be crossed, and difficult acclivities to 
climb, as well as some broad, open spaces to traverse, in 
gaining his position. The soldiers, though now trusting 
implicitly in Sheridan, thought that our passage up the 
Valley was successfully disputed. 

On the evening of the twentieth, when the Sixth Corps 
filed into the woods north of Strasburg, the Nineteenth 
deployed into the meadows just south of the town, in battle 
line across that part of the enemy's front. So we rested 
over night. The twenty-first was spent in reconnoitering 
and putting the army in position for definite and determined 
operations. The Sixth Corps was placed upon the right of 
the Nineteenth ; the cavalry was sent up the Luray Valley, 
and so expected to reach New Market in the rear of the 



117 

enemy. Crook's two divisions were not brought into service, 
but concealed in the woods northwest of Strasburg. There 
was Httle fighting on this day, and little advance made, if 
we except one brigade of Getty's division, and the Second 
Brigade of our Third Division. These two brigades fought 
for an advanced position, which the enemy seemed unwilling 
to relinquish, and gained it just as night fell. They cleared 
a splendid elevation of ground for artillery, which was at 
once occupied by Lamb's Rhode Island Battery. During 
the night the balance of the Second Division moved up, and 
threw up intrenchments. The First Brigade of the Third 
Division also went forward and joined the Second Brigade. 
This division now constituted the extreme right of the army. 

Although Sheridan here occupied a line a mile and a 
half in extent, it was not a continuous line. He seized and 
held prominent points, easy of defence, and aflbrding j^ro- 
tection ; nor did his divisions, brigades and detachments 
face the same parallel throughout, but here bent back ai'ound 
a hill or jutting point, and there dropped forward into a 
ravine, as the case required. The Third Division curved 
back towards the left, a proper defence of the right, and 
the high ground, requiring this conformation. 

Thus the morning of the twenty-second of September 
found the opposing armies of the Valley fronting and frown- 
ing at each other, apparently with all the probabilities of 
success in favor of the rebels, although three days before 
they had been wofully beaten. The strength of their posi- 
tion defied assault, but the hopes of our army were now too 
high to leave possible success unattempted ; besides, a deter- 
mination to conquer burned in the heart of Sheridan. The 
first business of the morning was a thorough inspection, by 
Sheridan and his lieutenants, of the enemy and his works, 
aijd the ground stretching far away to his left ; to penetrate, 
if possible, his purpose, and learn what new disposition he 
had made during the night. They were satisfied that he 



ii8 



only purposed to defend himself against a direct assault, 
that probably appearing to be all that was necessary. 

General Crook now started upon an expedition similar 
to that performed so successfully at Winchester. In the 
meantime, to divert attention from Crook's movement, and 
to gain a position from which we could move rapidly to his 
assistance at the decisive moment, the Third Division swung 
out from the right, brushed away the enemy's skirmishers, 
and formed a line immediately threatening his left flank. 
To make the deception still more complete, Averill's divi- 
sion of cavalry was moved to our right and rear, as if that 
was the extent of operations in this direction. The enemy 
faced his lines and turned his guns to meet any further 
advance from this quarter, went to work with the spade, 
and seemed content. 

Say now it is four o'clock. Crook has toiled with his 
command westward, up the steep side of the Blue Ridge, 
and then moved south far enough to gain the rear of the 
rebel works ; then facing east, crawled stealthily yet rapidly 
to his assigned position. He is now in the edge of the 
timber, his whole column lapping the enemy's flank, ready 
to rush upon his rear. An instant more, wholly unex- 
pected he dashes out and leaps forward. At the same time 
Ricketts's division, seconding Crook's command from the 
position taken in the morning, and in anticipation of this 
very thing, sprang forward, quickly traversed the field before 
them, mounted the rebel works in front and cleared them 
instantly. The work here was done. The rebels, those 
who did not at once yield themselves as prisoners, fled terri- 
fied, leaving everything that might encumber their flight. 
In the meantime the troops on our left were nobly carrying 
out their part of the programme. Under a heavier storm 
of deadly missiles — and they were under it, for it was quite 
impossible that the rebels should keep a perfect range on 
this uneven ground — they rapidly closed in and helped to 



119 

complete the victory. For the enemy it was a terrible rout. 
The strong position at Fisher's Hill gave Early an advan- 
tage, probably equal to five thousand men, over Sheridan. 
It was wrested from him, however, by superior strategy. 
We captured sixteen pieces of artillery, sixteen stand of 
colors, and eleven hundred prisoners. Our division claimed 
to have captured four hundred prisoners and six pieces of 
artillery. But it was only because they happened to be on 
that part of the line which we attacked. Eveiybody cap- 
tured prisoners and guns that day. The Tenth Regiment 
lost only five wounded and less than that number killed. 
Captain John A. Hicks, acting on the First Brigade staff", 
froin this regiment, was severely wounded. 

Without waiting to see the results of this victory, 
Sheridan sent what cavalry he had at hand in pursuit. He 
immediately followed with the Nineteenth and Sixth Corps, 
nor halted until he reached Woodstock, twelve miles away. 
The pursuit was resumed on the afternoon of the twenty- 
third, and continued as far as Harrisonburg, which point we 
reached on the twenty-fifth, where Early took to the moun- 
tains, whither cavalry and artillery could not pursue. 

During the time required to make this distance, we were 
almost constantly skirmishing with the enemy, so closely 
was he followed. At Mount Jackson and at New Market 
he enacted the farce of resistance, turned about, displayed 
something like a line of battle, and hurled railroad iron at 
us from his batteries, but it only lasted a short time, like a 
spasm brought on by over taxation of the nervous system. 

From Harrisonburg, Sheridan pushed out on the twenty- 
ninth as far as Mount Crawford, with the Sixth Corps, and 
sent the cavalry to Staunton and Waynesborough, where 
they destroyed vast amounts of public property. Here the 
pursuit ceased, and the troops returned to Harrisonburg. 
The supply train came up, and several paymasters, issuing 
provisions and greenbacks, the former being in much the 



120 



greater demand, at least a supply of coffee and sugar. 
Colonel Henry also rejoined the command at this point. On 
the sixth of October, the army started back toward our base 
of supplies at Harper's Ferry, a hundred miles away, and 
reached Strasburg on the afternoon of the eighth. 

In retiring down the Valley, General Sheridan literally 
obeyed the instructions of General Grant, delivered to Gen- 
eral Hunter on the fifth of August and soon after turned 
over to his successor in command. He reports this terrible 
business as follows : 

" In moving back to this point the whole country from 
the Blue Ridge to the North Mountain has been made 
untenable for a rebel army. I have destroyed over two 
thousand barns, filled with wheat and hay, and farming 
implements, over seventy mills, filled with flour and wheat, 
have driven in front of the army over four thousand head of 
stock, and have killed and issued to the troops not less than 
three thousand sheep." 

He also went beyond the instructions above referred to, 
and burned a lai'ge number of dwellings, but assigns the 
following reasons for his action : 

"Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was 
murdered beyond Harrisonburg, near Dayton. For this 
atrocious act all the houses within an area of five miles were 
burned. Since I came into the Valley from Harper's Ferry, 
every train, every small party, and every straggler, has been 
bushwhacked by the people; many of whom have protec- 
tion papers from commanders who have been hitherto in the 
Valley." 

This, every living soldier who was in this campaign 
knows to be true. The people were meek-faced citizens by 
day, and in the presence of any considerable body of Union 
troops ; but, as soon as the troops were out of sight, when 



4arkness came on, they became desperate and bloodthirsty 
guerrillas ; and in this character they stole upon our men like 
savages, and shot them down or dragged them away to the 
woods, where some of them were found hung up by their 
heels with their throats cut. Colonel Toles, Chief Qiiartcr- 
Master of the Sixth Corps, and Captain Buchanan, our 
Division Commissary Officer, were thus waylaid and shot. 
And this kind of warfare (?) was recommended by some of 
the leaders of the rebellion. Concealed in their houses, or 
in the guise of friends, they made bloody capital of our 
conversation, counted our files for the Confederate Chief, 
and pounced upon the weary soldier who, lame and panting, 
had fallen a few rods behind the column, to drag him away 
a prisoner, or butcher him on the spot. Could anything 
justify their course? Could any punishment be too severe.'' 
A rebel force, somehow collected, pursued Sheridan 
down the Valley. On the eighth, their cavalry charged 
spitefully upon the rear of Custar's Division, that was cov- 
ering the march. So the next day, Torbert, with all of our 
cavalry force, turned upon them, and in a very short but 
decisive engagement, defeated them, capturing three hundred 
prisoners and all of their "rolling stock" except one piece 
of artillery, and then chased them back to Mount Jackson. 
It might have been supposed now that either Early had 
withdrawn from the Valley, or that his force was so reduced 
and demoralized that a less number ot troops could take 
care of him. Therefore, the Sixth Corps, under orders for 
Petersburg, took up the line of march for Washington, via 
Ashby's Gap, on the tenth of October. Halting at Front 
Royal until the thirteenth, the corps then moved on a dozen 
miles or so, and was in the act of crossing the Shenandoah 
River, when it was ordered back to Middleton, and into a 
position on the right of the army we had left four days since^ 



122 



Cedar Creek. \ 

In the succeeding pages of this chapter it may be well 
to say that a complete description of the battle of Cedar 
Creek will not be attempted. It is very doubtfiil whether a 
description in detail can be given with accuracy. So terri- 
ble was the confounded confusion produced by the enemy's 
first blow in the morning, so complicated and all uncertain 
were the movements undertaken, almost despairingly for 
a time, to meet it, and the helplessness of corps and division 
commanders, left in some instances without a man to exe- 
cute their orders — in one word, so complete was the rout of 
almost the entire army in the early part of the day, and so 
wonderful the victory achieved afterwards — a victory won 
at last on the field of "the awful conflict," and regained by 
the very men who lost it — that the thought is baffled at 
description, as if following the thread of mysteiy. Only a 
general account of this battle, therefore, will be here pre- 
sented, and that will be confined principally to the operations 
of the Sixth Corps. 

On the morning of the nineteenth of October, 1864, 
three corps of infantry and one corps of cavalry were in 
position between Middletown and Cedar Creek, occupying 
several prominent overlooking points on its northern bank. 
The general direction of this stream, if its crooked course 
can be defined, is east ; it therefore strikes the Shenandoah, 
which takes a course at this point north and south, at right 
angles. The Winchester and Staunton pike is the main 
traveled road of the Valley, and from Middletown to Stras- 
burg it follows the course of the river, perhaps a mile from 
its west bank. Beyond the river, on the east, rises high 
and steep the Massannutten Mountain. The general direc- 
tion of the pike, the river and the creek, it will now be 
observed, describes three sides of a rectangular parallelo- 
gram. General Crook's command, consisting of two small 



123 

divisions, was in this space. He commanded a view of the 
junction of the two streams and of the river for a long 
distance, running past his left, his line facing south and east. 
On his left and rear was a small provisional division, com- 
manded by General J. H. Kitching. The Nineteenth Corps 
was on the right of the pike, somewhat to the rear of Crook, 
with its left resting upon it, and the centre thrown forward 
toward the Creek. Still farther to the right and rear, away 
towards the Blue Ridge, were the camps of the Sixth Corps. 
The Union army held a line three miles long, and was as 
near en echelon as anything not thus mechanically designed 
could be. Our Third Division lay nearest to the Nineteenth 
Corps ; the First joined our right, and the Second was on 
the extreme right of the infantry ; the cavalry lay still to the 
right of Getty's division. Our force has been given at 
twenty-five thousand, including all arms of the sei-vice, all 
under the command of Major-General H. G. Wright. 
Sheridan was at Winchester, "twenty miles away." The 
rebel army was at Fisher's Hill, five miles distant, estimated 
at twenty thousand. Early's plans for attack were to make 
a feint against our right with cavalry, move Uvo large 
divisions and forty pieces of artillery against our centre, 
and the rest of his army, three divisions, as a flanking 
column around our left. As soon as this flank movement 
should prove successful, and the attack should be made 
there, it was to be followed by a stunning blow at the Nme- 
teenth Corps. Here is a rebel account of the movement : 

"It commenced a little past midnight. While demon- 
: strations were made against the Federal right, where the 
' sound of musketry already announced a fight on the picket 
line, the flanking column of the Confederates, toiling along 
seven miles of rugged country, crossed the north fork of the 
Shenandoah by a ford about a mile east of the junction of 
Cedar Creek with that stream. The march was performed 



124 

in profound silence. Many places had to be traversed by 
the men in single file, who occasionally had to cling to the 
bushes on the precipitous sides of the mountain to assist 
their foothold. At dawn the flanking column was across 
the ford, Gordon's Division in front, next Ransom's, and 
Pegram's in reserve. Early had brought his column vmper- 
ceived to the rear of the left flank of the Federal forces ; it 
remained now but to close in upon the enemy and fight 
rapidly." 

Here also is another account, by a Union officer in the 
Nineteenth Corps : 

"His cavalry and light artillery had orders to advance 
upon our right, so as to occupy the attention of Torbert's 
Cavalry and the Sixth Corps. His infantrj'^ marched in five 
columns, of which Gordon, Ransom and Pegram were to 
place themselves by daybreak on the left rear of the whole 
Union position, while Kenshaw and Wharton should at the 
same hour be close up under the intrenched crest held by 
the army of Western Virginia. 

" The management of this advance was admirable. The 
canteens had been left in camp, lest they should clatter 
against the shanks of the bayonets ; the men conducted 
themselves with the usual intelligence of the American sol- 
dier, whether Northern or Southern ; and this fearfully peri- 
lous night march, under the nose of a powerful enemy, was 
accomplished with a success little less than miraculous." 

Of course there was scarcely a soldier in the army who 
believed that the enemy would venture upon an attack after 
he had been so often beaten, much less that he would make 
this hazardous attempt where the untimely clink of a horse's 
hoof against a stone, or the accidental discharge of a musket, 
would have invited sure destruction. Probably it was this 
unwarrantable conviction of security, coupled with some 



125 

contempt for a whipped foe, that accounts for any want of 
vigilance on the part of our men. There is also a reason- 
able view of the case. The ground over which they must 
move to the attack was thought to be impracticable. But 
the night was dark and the atmosphere was rare, conditions 
unfavorable for conveying sights or sounds, and the sturdy 
column stole on while we were all unconscious of its 
approach. Only once was there a suspicion of anything 
wrong, although they passed within four hundred yards of 
the sentinels ; then it was an undefined, uncertain sound, 
muffled in the distance, and was treated as a fancy. So the 
hours of night wore away. With morning came the crash. 
A heavy fog hung upon the river, and spread over the land, 
veiling everything in its unbroken sombre cloud, so conceal- 
ing the clever trick that was to be sprung upon us. That 
cloud bred us mischief. In it grew the many-headed mon- 
ster, that first, a little thing, came pattering and screaming 
upon our right in the gray dawn of day and disappeared, 
then like a terrific thunderbolt burst upon the left, shattering 
whatever it touched. 

It will be remembered that the Army of Western Vir- 
ginia was on the left, facing south and east, with Kitching's 
division, amounting to no more than a brigade, on Crook's 
left and rear, also facing east. The rebel line of assault was 
formed with Gordon's division stretched diagonally across 
Kitching's left. Ransom's and Pegram's divisions confronted 
the single brigade of Crook's corps, then turned oft* to the 
left of the main line of defence, and therefore stood opposed 
to the flank and rear of this line, at the same time reaching 
around so as to connect with Wharton's division in Crook's 
immediate front, while Kenshaw's larger division confronted 
the Nineteenth Corps, though not yet within striking 
distance. 

Soon after the small demonstration on the right, the 
enemy fell upon Kitching's force and scattered it, as leaves 



126 



are scattered before a November blast. At the same time 
they dashed upon Crook's men, sprang with hideous yells 
into their breastworks, and shot them down, all unprepared 
for resistance, or swept them within their advancing col- 
umns. The surprise was complete, and though the fiery 
storm lasted seemmgly but for a moment, yet in that moment 
Crook's corps and Kitching's division had melted away. 
It seems almost incredible that these gallant men, who had 
charged so splendidly at Winchester and at Fisher's Hill, 
should now so speedily become fugitives, flying for safety. 
It would have been impossible under other circumstances. 
The enemy came upon them as a wave of the sea comes 
upon the beach, licking up the dry sticks and rubbish that 
have been lodged near the water's edge, carrying some far- 
ther away, but bearing most of it back on its refluent tide. 
Next, the conflict fell upon the Nineteenth Corps. Gor- 
don, Ransom and Pegram came up unopposed and fell 
upon its rear ; Kenshaw charged in front, and in less than 
an hour nothing except the deserted tents and baggage, lost 
artillery and the brave dead, remained to mark the site of 
their former occupation. But single brigades and divisions 
had fought nobly in this brief hour. That morning a recon- 
noisance, by a part of this corps, had been ordered, and a 
force was nearly ready to move out ; therefore, when the 
conflict bi^oke so suddenly upon the left, these troops were 
in a movable condition. Colonel Stephen H. Thomas, 
the veteran commander of the Eighth Vermont Regiment, 
and the officer who did so much to mend the broken lines 
of his corps at Winchester, on the nineteenth of September, 
now in command of McMillian's brigade, immediately 
threw it across the pike and plunged with it into the woods, 
where he tried to arrest the fugitives from the Eighth Coi-ps, 
and attempted to beat back the rebel host that was then 
pressing unopposed in pursuit. But he was soon over- 
whelmed and obliged to retire, leaving fully one-third of 



127 

his men dead and wounded on the ground, although two 
other brigades came to his assistance. Meantime Gordon 
pushed on his flanking column, extending it around to the 
rear of the position still clung to by Emery, until he was 
squarely between him and Middletown, in possession of the 
pike. Emery now formed his remaining division upon the 
reverse side of his own breastworks, and endeavored for a 
moment to check the advance of the rebels ; but he could 
no more effect that than he could have stayed the torrent of 
a mighty river by dumping into it a cart load of sawdust. 
He was left alone with one division ; Grover had been 
overwhelmed in detail, himself wovnided, and was retiring 
as best he could. The rest of the corps soon followed. 

General Emery fought his corps with great bravery, and 
for some time faced the enemy with an organized front. 
His diyision and brigade commanders also are entitled to 
great praise for their conspicuous gallantry. It is impos- 
sible to see how men could have done better, situated as 
they were. The Sixth Corps, hearing the roar of the 
conflict through the darkness, had "packed up" and were 
prepared to move promptly when ordered. General 
Ricketts, in command of the corps, was not long in order- 
ing it into line of battle. The Third Division was formed 
into line at right angles, to our original position, facing east, 
the First Division formed on qur left, a little to the rear, 
the Second came next ; and still forther to the left and rear, 
in order to brace the whole line, the cavalry was posted. 
Early's army had now become concentrated on a line 
running nearly parallel with and on the west side of the 
pike covering our whole front and extending far beyond 
either flank. He had five large divisions, it will be remem- 
bered, well supplied with artillery, which he commanded 
in person ; and there was now nothing left except the Sixth 
Corps and Torbert's Cavalry to match him. They at once 
opened a severe fire of artillery and musketry upon our 



128 



division, from a commanding crest in front of the line we 
had newly taken up, sweeping all the ground before us. 
This fire continued for half an hour, pouring into our front ; 
it was then increased by an enfilading fire of artillery on 
our right, and the division fell back to a line parallel with 
that of the First Division. The rebels immediately 
advanced their line of battle to the crest we had left, and 
it seemed as if they were determined to force us still farther 
back. Now it happened when we fell back that three guns 
of Battery M, Fifth United States (Captain McKnight's), 
had been left in position. The rebels at once took posses- 
sion of them and were in the act of turning them upon us, 
whereupon a charge was ordered to recover them. We 
had retreated four hundred yards, and every inch must now 
be retraced ; the regiment advanced swiftly over the space, 
through a terrific storm of lead and iron, drove the enemy 
in confusion from the crest, recaptured the guns and dragged 
them oft^ by hand. 

Sergeant William Mahony, color bearer of the regi- 
ment, was the first to reach these guns, he immediately 
sprung upon one of them, flag in hand, saying, " They is 
taken, Kurnel." We maintained this position too long. 
The enemy coming up in heavier force, striking the troops 
that were on our left, and pouring in a destructive fire from 
the right, we were swept back to the second ridge above 
mentioned. We should have gone back at once, and moved 
quickly, instead of holding on until flanked on the right and 
left as we did, and then stubbornly yielding, fighting as we 
gave ground. We had suflered terribly in this adventure. 
But the enemy had met with his first repulse, and the 
manifest lack of confidence with which he fought afterwards, 
until his whole force hesitated and recoiled before one of our 
divisions, began to show itself at this point. We endeavored 
to make a stand upon this second line, but it was of no 
avail. The enemy were now reaching around our right. 



129 

and after repulsing a determined assault in front, the First 
Division withdrew and the Third followed suit, swinging 
around far to the right, and somewhat to the rear of the 
Second, which, with Merritt's and Custar's divisions of 
cavalry, still struggled against complete disaster. General 
Sheridan, in his report of this battle, affirms that these 
troops, Getty's Division and Torbert's Cavalry, were the 
only " troops that confronted the enemy from the first 
attack in the morning until the battle was decided." But 
they had retreated four miles during the day. The Vermont 
Brigade distinguished itself above all praise in this action, 
and the heroism of officers and men was sublime. 

At ten A. M., the rebels ceased to vex us. Either they 
thought themselves checkmated, or they were glutted with 
success. Both propositions may be true, for although they 
had driven us from the field and utterly routed most of the 
army, they had not conquered us ; there was a remnant left 
that steadily confronted them. General Getty, in command 
of the corps from early morning. General Ricketts having 
been severely wounded, had looked up a line of defence, and 
had there formed his own division. General Wright had 
brought the First and Third and the Nineteenth Corps into 
this formation, and had the rebels continued their advance he 
would surely have made the most stubborn fight of the day, 
thus far. It is true, also, that they loved well — alas ! too well 
for their safety — the spoils that had fallen into their hands. 
They delayed nearly three hours, at a time when a moment 
to them was worth assured victory. They were golden hours 
to us, for their mysterious silence was the unseen herald of 
the magnificent triumph that so speedidly followed. During 
that time Sheridan had arrived from Winchester. He 
immediately assumed command, carrying out the orders of 
General Wright, for this new defensive line. It is certain 
that the presence of Sheridan inspired confidence ; his every 
tone and Sfesture had something of reassurance in them. 



I30 

The men greeted him with vociferous cheering, the cowed 
and beaten in spirit hailed him with joy, stragglers hastened 
back at his heels, and the dying breathed out the last spark 
of life, rekindled it seemed but for an instant, to welcome his 
return. General Custar received him, les larmes aux yeux, 
and embraced him tenderly. He was everywhere in a mo- 
ment. Sending his stafl" in every direction, he would often- 
times gallop after them and then do himself the very thing 
he had directed them to do. But it is very doubtful whether 
the army thought of success, at least such a success as was 
achieved, even with Sheridan to command. They doubt- 
less thought of resistance, and determined not to be driven 
another inch. But Sheridan's plan was inuch more compre- 
hensive, and he frequently assured his men, energetically 
saying, "We'll have our camps before night." 

At one o'clock P. M., he was ready to meet the enemy, 
who had been some time preparing to advance, and his 
skirmishers had been once driven back on the right. On 
the left of the pike were posted Merritt's and Custar's 
Cavalry, under Torbert, and what there was left of Crook's 
command ; to their right the Sixth corps. Second Division 
on the left. Third in the centre, and the First on the right ; 
the Nineteenth Corps prolonged the line on the right, and 
subsequently Custar's division of cavalry was transferred 
to the right, to operate with the Nineteenth Corps. It was 
Sheridan's plan to turn the enemy's left with a heavy force, 
while he occupied his front with just strength enough to 
keep all his troops there well engaged, consequently he 
placed the Sixth Corps in a single line, so as to cover his 
right and centre, and the Nineteenth in two lines, at the 
point determined upon for the heaviest work. The prepara- 
tion was not made a moment too soon ; the rebels immedi- 
ately advanced upon the left, hoping to succeed as they had 
hitherto upon the right. They came on with force enough, 
but lacked the spirit and dash of the morning, and they 



were handsomely repulsed. Now followed some readjust- 
ing of the lines, and a new disposing of troops ; and two 
hours later our whole line emerging to the left was moving- 
steadily back over the ground we had lost, in a most deter- 
mined attack upon our whilom victorious foes. At first it 
met with as determined resistance, and it seemed as if 
our light line must succumb before the heavy columns of 
our adversaries, but Emery and Custar were hard at work 
on the right and soon overcome the resistance in that 
quarter. The attack was successful at last. The enemy's 
left gave way, and a part of it was cut oft' and captured by 
the terrible Custar. The other part of our line then sprang 
forward and his centre broke in confusion and fled a la 
Winchester and Fisher's Hill. Here as there, also, we 
pursued with avenging haste, cheering as we ran, so loud 
that the voice of cannon mingling with the clattering of 
musketry, seemed only the distant echo of our tumultuous 
joy, pushing rapidly over the four miles they had driven us, 
without an instant's relief, with no thought of their further 
resistance — they a flying mob, we a shouting aud exulting 
host, pursuing. We chased them to Cedar Creek, over 
which, after one look of mock defiance, expressed by the 
angry zips of a thousand bullets, those who could, escaped. 

This scene was magnificent. The field was hilly, striped 
with ravines and dotted with woods, but occasionally the 
whole long curving "line could be seen with its twice eighty 
flags, all in front, all tossed in the breeze that speed lent the 
air, floating their bright stars and gilded insignia of States 
along the triumphant way, and foremost, in the centre, was 
Sheridan, himself flashing, leading his army to victory. 

The infantry halted on the banks of the creek ; then 
came the smoking steeds of Custar. He forded the stream 
and pursued the routed foe until darkness afforded him 
shelter, Sheridan's promise was redeemed. We had our 
camps, and each man occupied the quarters that night, 



132 

which he had left in the morning, save those who slept the 
long sleep of the brave. It was a gory gateway through 
which we passed to victory. The lost in killed, was nearly 
three thousand. Two general officers were killed and five 
wounded, one mortally. Our division commander, General 
Ricketts, was severely wounded, and at one time during the 
battle little hope was entertained for his life. Most of those 
made prisoners by the enemy in the morning were recap- 
tured at night, with fifteen hundred "Johnnies." We cap- 
tured fifty-three pieces of artillery, including twenty-four we 
had lost, fifteen hundred small arms, beside large quantities 
of war materiel. Pollard gloomily records as a joke a cus- 
tom of the ordnance officers in Richmond. When forward- 
ing artillery to this Confederate commander, they ticketed 
them "General Sheridan, care of General Jubal Early." 
There were nine Vermont regiments engaged in this battle, 
the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eleventh, Eighth, 
Tenth, and First Cavalry, all suffering more or less loss, 
but no organization from the State more than the Tenth. 
We lost one third of our command. Twenty enlisted men 
were killed, and two officers. Captain L. D. Thompson and 
Lieutenant B. B. Clark. Eight other officers were wound- 
ed, Adjutant Lyman, Captains Nye and Davis, Lieutenants 
White, Wheeler, Welch, Read and Fuller. The regiment 
enjoyed the benefit of a succession of commanders in this 
battle, if such changes can be beneficial to a regimental 
command during an engagement. Colonel Henry was 
present at the commencement of the action, and bore himself 
with great coolness and bravery in the first charge that 
was made upon the enemy that morning. When the order 
came to secure McKnight's guns, the Colonel promptly led 
his regiment in the charge, and when he saw the guns safely 
to the rear, as the enemy were on three sides of him, ordered 
a retreat. This retreat commenced orderly enough, but as 
the rebels pressed up to the crest just occupied by the guns, 



133 

and as they had a meadow to cross about a mile wide be- 
fore any sort of shelter presented itself, it became disorderly 
and hasty. The Colonel kept up with his command for 
about a quarter of the way, but then, as he was suflering 
from the effects of a severe attack of bilious fever, gave out 
and would have been left in the hands of the enemy had not 
Lieutenant Greer and Corporal Crown, of Company D, 
come to his assistance, each taking him by an arm, and so, 
turning to the left, to escape a portion of the rebel fire, bore 
him oft' the field. As it was, the Colonel had four bullet 
holes in his clothes. Lieutenant Greer, then a Sergeant, had 
his knapsack on his back shot all to pieces, and Corporal 
Crown was twice hit, yet blood was not drawn on either of 
them. Meanwhile Captain Salisbury had halted and re- 
formed the regiment on the west side of the meadow, and 
gallantly repulsed the second charge of the enemy, when 
Colonel Henry came up. 

Shortly after this, Captain Salisbury was detailed to 
command the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, a small veteran 
regiment in the same brigade, and at that time without an 
officer with the rank of captain. In the final charge of the 
day the regiment was commanded by Captain H. H. 
Dewey, of Company A, an exceeding brave officer. Cap- 
tain Salisbury did good service with the Eighty-seventh 
Pennsylvania Regiment, of which he continued in command 
until the first of December, when he was relieved by the 
officer commanding the First Brigade, with the following 
complimentaiy order : 

" The Brigade Commander desires to express his entire 
satisfaction with the able manner in which Captain Salisbury 
has discharged his duties as commander of this regiment." 

He was also recommended for a brevet, for gallantry in 
this action. As these Pennsylvanians were under the com- 
mand of one of our best officers, it may not be inappropriate 



134 

in this connection to speak of their valiant behavior at this 
battle. In the final charge they captured Ransom's division 
flag, one of their men taking it from its brave bearer, who, 
having been shot down, had torn it from its staff, and was 
in the act of hiding it in his bosom. The captain immedi- 
ately promoted him to a sergeant, and permitted him to take 
his prize to General Sheridan's headquarters. The general 
ordered his pay up to date, and gave him thirty days 
furlough. 

But little more remains to be said of our part in the 
Shenandoah Campaign. The army remained at Cedar 
Creek and in the vicinity of Strasburg twenty days, and 
then moved north to a small hamlet near Winchester, where 
it was little further annoyed by General Earl3\ A skirmish 
or two, resulting in defeat, finished the long chapter of 
Confederate disasters in the Shenandoah Valley. The First 
Vermont Cavalry, or a part of that command, on picket near 
this point, was attacked by a superior force of rebel cavalry, 
under Rosser, and its outposts were driven in. Major 
Salisbury, with the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, and a 
part of the One Hundred and Twenty-Second " O. V. 
I.s," was ordered to drive them back, which he did after 
a brisk skirmish, under the immediate eye of General Sheri- 
dan. This is all that the Tenth Vermont had to do with 
the fight at Kearnstown. 

On the eighth of November, the regiment held a Presi- 
dential election, casting one hundred and ninety-five votes for 
Lincoln and twelve for McClellan. On the twenty-first, the 
Sixth Corps was reviewed by General Sheridan. The 
twenty-fourth was Thanksgiving Day, and each soldier in 
the army was supplied with three-quarters of a pound of 
poultry — turkey or chicken — a Thanksgiving gift from 
loyal citizens of New York City, which made the occasion 
a very pleasant one. For the rest, quiet and monotony 
were the principal features of our stay in the Valley. The 



135 

men built substantial quarters, thinking they were to winter 
there, and officers began to think of sending for their wives. 
But they did not, and the "Fates of War" soon shifted the 
scene. 



136 



CHAPTER VII. 

IN the Valley we had lived on mutton and honey. When 
we were not having the best of a time, we had the 
worst. Army experience ever afforded these two extremes. 
We now go back to become once more identified with the 
operations around Petersburg and Richmond, and to per- 
form duties more disagreeable than those we had dis- 
charged during the last forty days, and to live on a soldier's 
common fare — the lambs and honey of the Confederacy 
had become exhausted in this quarter. 

On the third of December, we moved to Stevenson's 
Station, and took cars for Harper's Ferry en route for 
Washington, via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Arriv- 
ing at the station, there followed the usual disestablishment 
that falls to the lot of armies moved by railroad and water 
transportation — that is, all unauthorized horses, a large 
number of which are generally accumulated in a campaign 
through an enemy's country, were turned over to Qiiarter- 
Masters. There are also, at such times, a great many 
personal effects, such as tables, chairs, ofttimes a stool, and 
not unfrequently a bed-quilt, that have mysteriously made 
their way into camp and ministered wonderfully to the 
soldier's comfort, which must, on the eve of a march, be 
abandoned. We often parted with these articles with great 
reluctance ; they become to the soldier things of vertu. No 
one can tell how much he becomes attached to an old chair, 
or a table, or that which served the purpose of a table, until 
he has known the inconvenience of trying to get along with- 
outjthem. The man who invented a camp-chair was a great 



137 

civilizer, he deserves a monument crowned with his own 
collossal figui'e in bronze. 

We arrived at Washington at eight o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the fourth, and immediately took ship on the steamer 
Matilda^ for City Point, where w^e arrived at eleven A. M., 
on the fifth. After some delay we got ashore, and after a 
great deal more detention reached the front sometime during 
the night. When the morning broke we found that we had 
slept among the half-buried bones of those slain six months 
before, and upon a battlefield we had ourselves contested. 
Next day we moved into a position on the left of the Weldon 
Railroad, formerly occupied by the Fifth Corps. It was. 
a dreary place. The heel of the soldier had crushed all 
the verdure from the soil — the timber for miles around had 
been cut away and converted into fortifications, cabins and. 
fuel. Still, all this region was many times enriched by the 
blood of our countrymen, and now doubtless yields- luxuri- 
ant harvests of grass and grain from the costly fertilizing. 
Our division moved to Hatcher's Run, on the ninth, in a 
terrible storm of snow and rain, as a supporting column to 
Warren and Mott, who had gone still further to the left, in 
order to destroy the Weldon Railroad, south of our position, 
which the enemy was using to transport supplies from^ 
North Carolina, nearlv up to a point whence he could wagon 
them around our left to his own depots. On the tenth, after 
standing in -line of tattle, in half-frozen mud and water six 
inches deep, from eight o'clock in the morning until two in 
the afternoon, we moved back to the old camp. Barely 
arriving there, our regiment was ordered away to Fort Du- 
shane, a position in the rear line of defences on the Weldon 
Railroad. Here we remained until the twenty-third^ through 
terrible cold weather, much exposed, and it required a great 
deal of grumbling to w'hile away and vary the monotony of 
our stay. Through great tribulation the nten had contrived 
to build cabins, though much inferior to- any tliey had con- 
10 



138 

structed before, on account of the great scai^city of material. 
But there was no rest yet ; just as these additions to our 
comfort had been secured, General Seymour, now in com- 
mand of our division, ordered us up to the first line of 
defences. There we remained in comparative quiet until 
the twenty-ninth of March, with the exception of an engage- 
ment on the twenty-fifth, which is reported as a battle. It 
was indeed a battle, in which Lieutenant-Colonel George 
B. Damon, then in command of the Tenth, distinguished 
himself. It was a battle of the picket line, although intended 
as a feeler of the main line of the enemy, which General 
Meade apprehended had been weakened in order to swell 
the force which had been impelled against Fort Steadman 
on the morning of the twenty-fifth. Of course that attack, 
being upon the east of Petersburg, did not fall upon the 
Sixth Corps, nor did we sustain any part of the temporary 
defeat at that point, neither share the subsequent success 
there attained — all of that belongs to the Ninth Corps. As 
soon as this affair was over, however, General Meade sup- 
posing that some of the enemy's supporting troops in this 
assault had been concentrated at that point from our 
immediate front on the left of Fort Steadman, ordered a 
counter attack, which engaged nearly all of ovir division, 
and involved, in one way and another, the whole of both 
corps. Colonel Damon had under his command about 
four hundred men from the Tenth Vermont and Fourteenth 
New Jersey, besides the One Hundred and Tenth and One 
Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Regiments. With these 
forces he was ordered to advance to the picket line in front 
of Forts Fisher and Welch, and if possible carry it. He 
reached this line, which was about three hundred yards 
distant, and penetrated it at several points, but on account 
of the strength of the position and the vigor of its defence, 
he was compelled to retire to the original line. 

General Seymour made immediate preparation to renew 



1 39 

the charge. General Kifer, commanding our Second Bri- 
gade, with the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio, the 
Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania, the Sixth Maryland and the 
Ninth New York Heavy Artillery Regiments, as a support 
to Damon's detachments from the First Brigade, now 
directed the assault. The advance commenced at four 
P. M., Colonel Damon now commanding his own regiment. 
The first line moved rapidly forward, the supports closely 
following, and captured the enemy's entire intrenched picket 
line, and held it, forcing them back five hundred yards. The 
enemy's fiasco upon Fort Stead man, in the early morning, 
finally resulted in the loss of his fortified line at this point, 
together with the loss of tsvo thousand prisoners at all points. 
Of these, the Tenth captured one hundred and sixty men. 
Thus ended the operations of the day, so far as we were 
concerned. Previous to this movement, the Third Division 
had been in camp near the Weldon Railroad, south of 
Petersburg, as above stated, nearly three months, doing 
police, fatigue and picket duty. These duties were quite 
severe, as we were so near the enemy, and it required so 
much time and attention to keep the slippery clay soil, upon 
which our camp was located, in a good sanitary condition. 
The two picket lines, at this point, were near enough 
together to aftbrd free and easy communication between the 
sentinels on opposite posts. They daily exchanged Rich- 
mond for Washington and New York papers. "Yank" 
and "Johnny" chopped wood from the same felled tree, at 
the same time, between the lines, and conversed about the 
aspects of the struggle. Why should they not ? Each was 
then engaged in a peaceful pursuit, and it seemed as reason- 
able as the practice of firing upon each other regularly, 
night and morning, from their respective posts of military 
duty. 

No details for picket duty, at this time, were allowed to 
sleep when noi on their posts, during the twenty-four hours, 



140 

which was the usual hmit of their assignment to this task. 
There was little or no time for drill while in these winter 
quarters, and perhaps no need of more than was furnished 
by the usual evening dress parade. This gave the men 
exercise in the manual of arms, and was now performed in 
our division by brigades. On the whole, this was altogether 
the hardest winter we had seen in our military existence. 
Our exposure to the storm, and our experience in the mud, 
were greater than ever before. The pitiless blast frequently 
uncovered the frail shelters of the soldier, and sometimes 
blew down our heavily corded wall tents. One March 
wind wrenched Surgeon Clark's tent from its fastenings, and 
hurled the ridge beam upon the head of Captain Davis, 
who happened to be sitting inside, with such violence as to 
render that officer senseless for twenty-four hours, and 
disable him for a month. Our proximity to the Confederate 
lines was such as to render almost every movement of ours 
visible to them, and constant vigilance was the price of our 
safety from surprise by a coup (T etat. 

We had a sutler but a small part of the time, and we 
had to rely upon the government for all of our supplies. To 
be sure the Commissary Department usually ' furnished the 
substantials in this line, but never luxuries. I do not 
remember that the government ever issued fresh salmon and 
green peas. With all this exposure, privation and severe 
military service, the troops of our division were never in a 
more healthy condition. The men of the Tenth Regiment 
were complimented in special orders by Colonel Scriver, 
Medical Inspector of the Army, for cleanliness of person and 
quarters, also for the healthy and orderly arrangements of 
their camp. The Division Hospital, in charge of Surgeon 
Childe, of the Tenth, was admirably located, well fitted up, 
and in its routine and details of management as conducive 
to the comfort of the sick as any of those vast military 
infirmaries around Washington. With all this, too, our 



141 

troops were contented. There was no murmuring-, but 
each man seemed to be waiting cahnly to do his part in the 
final movements of the approaching spring campaign, which 
all intelligent minds believed would determine the fate of the 
rebellion. Our discipline was perfect, and desertion from 
among the veterans unknown, although there were some 
from recruits and substitutes who had recently been sent to 
the front. In these particulars there was a remarkable 
contrast between the two opposing armies. While the 
patriots were well fed, warmly clad and abundantly sup- 
plied with medicines and hospital accommodations, firmly 
believing in the justice and righteousness of their cause, with 
many of their comrades returning recovered from the inju- 
ries of the late campaigns, and contented now to do and die 
in further efforts to suppress the rebellion, a large majority 
of the Confederates lacked all these conditions and qualities. 
They were discontented, weary and heart-sick of the strug- 
gle ; many were constantly seeking the opportunity to 
desert. Scores and hundreds came into our lines nightly. 
A load of them, driving a six-mule team, entered our camps 
on the twenty-third of February, in open day. Many of the 
officers came in with their men, delivering themselves from 
further participation in a struggle which had become hope- 
less. Thus, much of the vitality of the Confederacy oozed 
out ; its forces were dropping away all winter, and the time 
usually employed to recruit the health and spirits of an 
army for vigorous operations in the spring, was seized upon 
by the Confederate soldiers to free themselves from the 
toils and the consequences of the vmcertain contest. This 
showed something of the state of demoralization existing 
in the rebel army ; but when soldiers, set to guard its 
outposts and various fortifications against the approaches 
of an enemy without, were compelled to guard still more 
vigilantly against their own companions in arms, lest they 
should desert, and were oftentimes ordered to fire upon 



142 

large squads fleeing to the enemy, there is positive proof of 
great disorder. Meanwhile Grant was strangling the Army 
of Northern Virginia. It had been able to do little more 
than hold a defensive position around Richmond for the 
past eight months. Sheridan had destroyed an army that 
the Confederate chief sent into the Shenandoah Valley for 
the purpose of loosing the toils that he felt tightening 
around him. 

Sherman and Thomas had kept all of the Confederate 
armies south and southwest of Virginia remarkably busy 
for nearly a year, ev'er defeating and steadily driving them, 
and now, united, were heading towards Richmond. Surely 
that nation, which misguided men had attempted to 
rear upon a foundation which had for its corner stone the 
black man, was beginning to totter. Perhaps it would have 
stood firmer had not its founders cast four millions of 
intelligent beings, whose blood boiled for freedom, into the 
trenches of its substructure. 

We must now describe something of the operations of 
both armies henceforward, to the close of the contest 
between them ; and though other corps and regiments 
shared equally in the final movements here successfully 
undertaken, the part taken by the Sixth Corps will be 
given most in detail. 

Lee must free himself from this vice-like grip of the 
Army of the Potomac or perish. Grant had planned a 
movement to commence on the twenty-ninth of March, 
which was to strike once more the enemy's right flank, 
against whch we had been so often hurled with varying 
success, while vigorous demonstrations were to be made 
upon his left. Lee anticipated this contemplated movement 
by four days. On the twenty-fifth, he made his famous 
strike at Forts Steadman and Haskell, referred to near the 
beginning of this chapter, and better known in histories 
of the war. Had this design succeeded, it certainly would 



H3 

have prolonged the contest, for it would have divided our 
army and endangered our depot of supplies at City- 
Point. But the result was far otherwise. Lee lost three 
thousand men, was compelled to give ground at several 
points along his line, and on the whole, shook himself more 
firmly into the toils from which he was endeavoring to free 
himself. Thus the memorable second of April, 1865, found 
him. 

No doubt a full and impartial account of the final 
movements of the Army of the Potomac, henceforth from 
this date, would be acceptable to most of the small circle of 
readers whom this volume will reach. But they are fiiirly 
recoi-ded elsewhere. Therefore the remarkable operations 
of Sheridan, on the three days preceding and on the same 
date, on the right of the enemy, with the cavalry corps, 
Warren's and a part of Hancock's Corps, the latter under 
Humphreys, although thrilling, and the initiation of that 
strategy which intercepted the successful flight, and finally 
wrought disaster to the Confederate forces around Rich- 
mond, cannot be recorded. And as the briefest possible 
account of the part taken by the Tenth Vermont in the 
action of the second of April, the report of Lieutenant- 
Colonel George B. Damon is given, nearly complete. 

"General : — I have the honor to submit the following 
as a report of the operations of this regiment, in the attack 
upon the main line of works of the enemy, on the left of 
Petersburg, on the second of this month. 

" In compliance with orders from the headquarters of the 
brigade, the regiment, in light marching order, leaving all 
knapsacks and camp equipage behind, in order to facilitate 
its movements, moved at twelve o'clock, midnight, on the 
first of April, and went into position some four hundred 
yards in front of Fort Welch, and twenty paces in rear of 
our intrenched picket line.- The bi'igade, which was the 



144 

extreme left of the corps, was formed in three lines of 
battle, the Tenth Vermont occupying the right of the front 
line. The picket line of the enemy was also behind strong 
earthworks, about one hundred and fifty yards from us, their 
main works being some two hundred yards farther to their 
rear. 

"Soon after we were in position, at half past twelve 
o'clock, and again at three o'clock in the morning, a very 
severe picket fire was opened on both sides, commencing 
at a considerable distance to our right, and extending to our 
front and left, and continuing each time for about one half 
hour. 

" The regiment is entitled to great credit for the silence 
which was maintained during this terrible musketry, both 
officers and men keeping a perfect line and displaying great 
coolness and courage. The darkness prevented a large list 
of casualties, some five or six men only being wounded. 

" At about four o'clock in the morning, at the firing of a 
signal gun from Fort Fisher, the regiment advanced at a 
double quick under a terrific fire of musketry and artillery, 
passing our own picket line and that of the enemy, pressing 
through such openings as we could find in the double line 
of abatis, and did not halt until the colors of the regiment 
were planted inside the fortified line of the enemy. 

" We first struck their works immediately to the left of 
a fort mounting six guns, which was evacuated on our 
approach. These defenses consisted of heavy field works, 
at least six feet high, with a ditch in front eight feet wide 
and six or seven feet deep, — and forts and redoubts at 
intervals of from three hundred to four hundred yards, all 
mounted with field artillery. A portion of the men passed 
through narrow openings in the works and many jumped 
into the ditch and scaled the intrenchments. Many 
prisoners delivered themselves up here, and were imme- 
diately sent to the rear, but without guard, as our own 



H5 

safety required the presence of every man. As my regi- 
ment was in advance of the other regiments of the division, 
and had become somewhat broken by the obstructions 
through which we had passed, I caused the line to be 
reformed, which occupied some five minutes, during which 
time we were joined by portions of the other regiments of 
the brigade. 

"As soon as my command was reorganized, we moved 
rapidly to the left, in line of battle, within and parallel to 
the captured works, in the direction of a second fort, some 
three hundred yards distant, doubling up the enemy as 
we advanced, and capturing many prisoners. This fort, 
mounting two guns, was taken without serious opposition. 
Here we halted for a moment to reorganize the line, and 
again advanced, over swampy, uneven ground, upon a third 
fort, distant some four hundred yards, from which we 
received a severe artillery fire. We were also subjected to 
quite a severe musketry fire from this position, which was 
obstinately contested by a large force of the enemy assembled 
there. The position was, however, carried, and the fort 
fell into our hands, the enemy retiring a few hundred yards 
to the left into the edge of a piece of woods, from which 
they kept up so severe a musketry fire as to check our 
advance. Adjutant James M. Read was here Avounded, 
while nobly performing his duty, the ball entering the heel 
and coming out at the instep, necessitating an amputation 
of the foot, from which he died on the sixth instant. So 
rapid had been our advance from the time of first reaching 
the enemy's line, that the regiment was considerably broken 
up, while the other regiments of the brigade were without 
organization, though many of the men were with us. We 
were able, however, to hold our advanced position for 
about twenty minutes, when the enemy advanced upon us in 
strong force, moving parallel with their intrenchmcnts and 
upon both sides. We were compelled reluctantly to fall 



146 

back to the second fort, heretofore mentioned. Some of the 
captured guns of the enemy, and one of our own batteries, 
were now put into position and opened upon the enemy. 

"The different regiments of the brigade were, in the 
meantime, reorganized, as were some of the regiments of 
the Second Brigade, of the division, which now came up, 
and in a short time we again advanced, i"ecapturing the fort 
and carrying everything befoi'e us. The enemy made no 
further resistance, but great numbers delivered themselves 
up as prisoners, and many escaped to the rear. Still 
moving on about a half mile, we met the Twenty-fourth 
Corps, which had just entered the works without opposition, 
further to the left. After halting here for about half an 
hour, the regiment countermarched and moved in the 
direction of Petersburg, together with the rest of the 
division. Passing outside the rebel fortifications a little to 
the north of the point where we entered in the morning, 
the division was formed in line of battle at right angles to 
their works, forming a part of a line which extended far to 
the left, and moved forward slowly, towards Petersburg, and 
until within about two miles of that city, where we halted 
until about sundown. We were then moved a short dis- 
tance and went into position on the ground previously 
occupied as a picket line of the enemy, my command being 
the extreme right of the division and resting on the Vaughn 
road. Here we intrenched and bivouacked for the night. 

"I am happy to be able to state that the Tenth Vermont 
was the first regiment in the division to plant a stand of 
colors within the enemy's works, — that it bravely performed 
its entire duty throughout the day, and kept up so perfect an 
organization as to elicit the highest commendation of the 
brigade and division commanders. 

"GEORGE B. DAMON, 

" Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding, 

"Brigadier-General P. T. Washburn, 

" Adjutant and Inspector General." 



147 

In this action, each officei- of the regiment bore himself 
gallantly, and every man behaved as if the success of the 
day depended upon his individual efforts. Leaving the 
Vaughn road, the division, with the corps, crossed the 
Appomattox River, via bridge w^rested from the flames by 
which the retreating rebels had endeavored to destroy it, 
and entered Petersburg a little after sunrise, Monday, 
April third, which the enemy had evacuated the preceding 
night. There was nothing strange about the appearance of 
this city, except its remarkable silence. Stores, shops and 
all public buildings were closed ; nearly all the male inhab- 
itants had fled with the army, save old men and negi-oes. 
The place was formally surrendered by the municipal 
authorities, but it was not to be expected that they would 
cheerfully welcome the new masters of the situation. It 
seemed then, almost a privilege to be a black man — he 
alone, of those born and wedded to the south could be 
happy. His color and condition precluded him from being 
a traitor, and fortunately neither prevented him from being 
a man and humane. He alone could shout till hoarse, and 
be glad with a great joy. 

Richmond and Petersburg fell in the same hour. Gen- 
eral Weitzel, since the twenty-ninth of March, had held the 
works on the north side of the James River opposite Rich- 
mond, with one division of the Twenty-fourth and two 
divisions of the Twxnty-fifth Corps, and had kept up a 
tremendous show of fight all the time. While Wright, 
Parke and Ord were advancing and sweeping all before 
them on the south and east of Petersburg, Weitzel was 
producing a huge military satire below Richmond, with the 
noise and flame of his ponderous guns. He reproduced 
another part of the same play at night with brass bands, and 
did not once dream that the auditors for whom he had 
brought out all this comedy were silentl}' stealing away 
under cover of darkness. At two o'clock on the morning 



148 



I 



of the third, however, he was awakened by the sharp sound 
of explosions, and very soon began to suspect the cause. 
Efforts were made to verify the conjecture. Soon a deserter 
came in and gave it as his opinion that the Confederates 
were evacuating the city. At four o'clock a negro drove 
into camp and reported that they had been doing so all 
night, Weitzel immediately put his troops in motion, and 
started with his staff to occupy the place, and at six o'clock 
in the morning entered the beautiful metropolis of Old Vir- 
ginia, crackling in the flames which General Ewell had 
ordered put to the storehouses, and which had spread over 
the whole business portions of the city, and amid the thun- 
der of oxploding shells which had come in contact with the 
elements. Very soon the American flag — one which had 
belonged to the Twelth Maine Regiment, then in the pos- 
session of General George F. Shepley, Weitzel's Chief of 
Staff', floated over the Confederate Capital, the ensign, not of 
captivity^ but of LIBERTY ! Liberty, even to the sullen 
inhabitants and the half-starved, ragged soldiers of the Con- 
federate States ! An emblem of freedom to the thousands of 
dark-visaged, intelligent beings who greeted it, and to their 
race ! and a glorious promise of speedy deliverance to a 
myriad of patriots delirious with hunger and cruelty, and in 
bonds, who could not see it but knew it was there ! 

The troops entering Petersburg in the early morning on 
the third, were all in motion again at eight the same fore- 
noon, in pursuit of Lee's retreating army. He had stopped 
at Amelia Court House. Sheridan, pursuing on his flank 
with the cavalry and the Fifth Corps, from Five Forks, had 
constantly annoyed him, and had now, on the morning of 
the fifth, concentrated at Jettersville, and planted himself 
across the Richmond and Danville Railroad, over which 
Lee was expecting to receive supplies for his hungry army ; 
but during the evening of the fifth, the Sixth Corps came 
up from Mount Pleasant Church, and also the Second, both 



149 

joining Slieridan, who was holding the raih-oad from that 
point down to Burkesville Junction. All hope of getting a 
single ration to his troops over this route was now cut off. 
Therefore that night Lee crept around Sheridan's left and 
moved southeast towards Farmville, where he would, if 
unmolested, strike the Petersburg and Lynchburg Railroad, 
and perhaps obtain his coveted and much needed supplies, 
and there also be able to cross the Appomattox, and so 
escape. But he was intercepted at Paine's Cross Roads by 
Davis's, Smith's, and Gregg's brigades of cavalry, where he 
lost nearly two hundred wagons and a number of pieces of 
artillery. Lee now turned west, but was pursued by Sheri- 
dan's cavalry, which had done all the fighting since the 
third, and attacked at Detonsville. This attack was re- 
pulsed, but it delayed the Confederate advance, and enabled 
Custar to throw his division across their pathway at Sailor's 
Creek ; then Crook's division hastening to his aid, Sheridan 
hurled his whole force against the marching column, and 
broke it in twain, capturing an immense wagon train and 
fifteen pieces of artillery. Ewell, following the train, was 
cut off, and hardly knew what to do. But he was soon 
aroused by Gen Seymour, who, coming down from Jetters- 
ville with our Third Division, fell upon his rear. He imme- 
diately about faced and began fighting desperately. At this 
moment Wheaton's division, also of Wright's corps, coming 
up, joined in the attack. Sheridan, after his success upon 
the enemy's right flank, wheeled to the left and fell violently 
upon Ewell's new formed rear. The action was sharp and 
bloody, and for a while the stubbornness of Ewell's men 
threatened to retard our advance, but the veterans of the 
Sixth Corps, though, marched fiercely to join in the fight, at 
Sheridan's earnest and oft-repeated entreaties, for the men 
he had commanded in the Valley, and had so triumphantly 
led against Early, must surely triumph here. "Tell the 
Sixth Corps to hurry up," said Sheridan, " and Fll lead 



ISO 

'em." He did ; and thus cut off and half surrounded, 
Ewell surrendered. The results of the victory were : Six 
General officers, Ewell, Pegram, Barton, De Boise, Corse, 
and Fitz Hugh Lee, several thousand prisoners, many 
small arms, and fourteen pieces of artillery. 

The balance of Lee's army ci'ossed the Appomattox at 
Farmville at dusk, on the sixth, and during the night moved 
on to Appomattox Court House. To this point he was 
pursued, next day, and hotly assailed in several engagments, 
on the seventh, eighth and ninth, participated in by all the 
cavalry and most of the infantry corps. On the eighth, 
the Sixth Corps, followed by the Second, crossed the river 
at Farmville, and moved directly in the line of Lee's 
retreat, while Sheridan, Ord and Griffin swung around to 
Prospect Station, and thence twenty-five miles southwest, to 
Appomattox Station, where they destroyed several supply 
trains laden with provisions and forage which had been 
sent out from Lynchburg for Lee's exhausted army. There, 
also, they were squarely athwart his intended line of retreat. 
Thus the great chieftain, who had so long guarded the 
northern frontiers of the Confederacy, and so successfully 
baffled the Union commanders who had been an-ayed 
against him, if the term success can apply to a bad cause, 
was brought to bay, and the way already having been 
opened, made to sue for terms of capitulation. The Sixth 
and Second Corps were close in his rear ; the cavalry 
and the Fifth and parts of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty- 
fifth Corps of Infantry were in his front. Thousands of his 
men had thrown away their arms and all that would impede 
their way of progress ; these and many others disheartened 
and sore, were constantly falling out by the way and giving 
themselves up as prisoners of war ; guns, hospital and sup- 
ply trains were hourly falling into our hands. There was 
but one thing left for him to do, by which he could expect 
to receive the meed of praise that the world is ready to 



bestow upon a brave warrior, though the cause that his 
sword has defended is infamous — that was surrender I 
This he did on Sunday, the_ ninth day of April, 1865. 

The details of this final triumphant scene it does not fall 
to my lot to give. They are all familiar, even to the apple 
tree which stands conspicuously in the foreground of the 
great historical picture — of which there may be a few cords 
left for sale — and under which the staff officers of the two 
commanders chatted, while their chiefs arranged the terms 
of capitulation in McLean's house. The Fifth Corps and 
McKenzie's Division of Cavalry remained at Appomattox 
Court House to attend to the paroling of the late Army of 
Northern Virginia, while the balance of the Army of the 
Potomac and the Arm}- of the James returned to Burkesville, 
and ere long to Washington. Here, at Appomattox, the 
awful contest first openly initiated in Charleston Harbor, 
South Carolina, April twelfth, 1861, was virtually closed, 
and the long cherished dream of a Southern Confederacy 
vanished forever ! 

Still there were rebels yet in arms ; some in the far south, 
and a large army, under General J. E. Johnston, in North 
Carolina. General Sherman, who had just reduced the 
rebellion in three States of the Union, was now quietly wait- 
ing at Goldsboro', confronting Johnston with forty thousand 
men at Smithfield. On the fourteenth, upon hearing of 
Grant's operations' around Richmond, and of the result at 
Appomattox, he immediately took the offensive, hoping to 
bring his antagonist to a decisive battle or a capitulation. 
General Sherman was not disappointed. Johnston at once 
asked for a suspension of hostilities, and for a meeting for 
consultation looking to and considering terms for the sur- 
render of the forces under his command. Terms were 
finally agreed upon between the two commanders, on the 
seventeenth, and at once despatched to Washington. In the 
meantime President Lincoln had been assassinated, which 



152 

horrible deed had produced a temper in all Union-loving 
hearts unfavorable to the acceptance of any disposition of 
the supporters of the rebellion^ that had about it the least 
color of leniency. In this state of mind the stipulations 
between Sherman and Johnston were thought to be i^emark- 
ably favorable to the latter ; and as they were made subject 
to the approval of the United States Government, they found 
that Government in a spirit which must inevitably disap- 
prove them. Accordingly, General Grant was hastily 
ordered to North Carolina and directed at once to renew 
hostilities. Consequently the Sixth Corps, yet in camp at 
Burkesville, and Sheridan's cavalry, were ordered to move 
on to Johnston's rear. We started for Danville, Virginia, 
one hundred and twenty miles distant, on the twenty-fourth, 
arriving there on the twenty-eighth. The First Division 
quietly took possession, the other troops immediately follow- 
ing. The same day, orders were issued for another advance, 
to commence on the twenty-ninth, and had there been a 
necessity for it we should have been striking heavily upon 
Johnston's rear within thirty-six hours. But while prepar- 
ing to move. General Wright received intelligence of John- 
ston's surrender upon the same terms that had been accorded 
to Lee, and we were spared participation in a victory that 
belonged solely to the noble armies of the Southwest. 

The corps remained at Danville until the sixteenth of 
May, then took cars for Richmond. Arriving on the morn- 
ing of the seventeenth, we went into camp near Manches- 
ter, where we remained until the twenty-fourth. While at 
Danville we published a daily paper, which we issued from 
the office of the Danville Register^ called The Sixth 
Corps. 

At Manchester, the troops, waiting for the arrival of our 
division wagon trains from Danville, visibly recruited. The 
men eagerly visited Richmond, roamed about the deserted 
and half-ruined capital of the late Confederacy, and were 



153 

now remarkably anxious to explore the interior of Libby 
Prison and Castle Thunder, which desire they were allowed 
to gratify without restraint. 

On the twenty-fourth, after having tried in vain to pro- 
cure transportation to Washington, General Wright started 
his veteran corps northward. There was less murmuring 
than might have been supposed. Still, as it was a part of 
Johnston's stipulations with Sherman that fhe Government 
should furnish his men with free transportation to the nearest 
practicable point to their homes, our own soldiers thought, 
perhaps justly, that there was no need, certainly no good 
reason, why they should be marched from Richmond to 
Washington. But the Sixth Corps, with the reputation of 
being glorious fighters, had gained the sobriquet of "Sedg- 
wick's walkers," during the war, and were now good for 
this trip. After experiencing a great deal of rainv weather 
and mud, we reached Ball's Cross Roads, three miles from 
Georgetown, on the second of June, moving by way of 
Hanover Court House, Fredericksburg and Aquia Creek. 

On the seventh of June, all the Vermont troops in the 
vicinity of Washington were reviewed by His Excellency 
John Gregor}- Smith, Governor of Vermont, accompanied 
by his Adjutant-General, Peter T. Washburn, Qiiarter-Mas- 
ter-General P. P. Pitkin, Surgeon-General S. W. Thayer, 
and many other gentlemen from the State. The organiza- 
tions from the State -were the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, 
Sixth, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Regiments of Infantiy, 
and the First "Vermont Cavalry." On the eighth, the 
whole corps was reviewed on Pennsylvania Avenue, b}' 
President Johnson, attended by many general officers, subal- 
tern, soldiers from the other corps, and a vast concourse of 
citizens. On the twenty-second, the veterans of the Third 
Division were mustered out of the United States service. 
Fourteen otficers and one hundred and thirty-six men of the 
Tenth Vermont were transferred to the Fifth Vermont, — a 
11 



154 / 

regiment that now embraced some of its own, and recruits 
from other commands — and thirteen officers and four hun- 
dred and fifty-one men were mustered out. Very soon, the 
other division shared the same fate; and thus the '•'•old" 
Sixth Ariny Corps, embracing men from all of the New 
England, Middle and some of the Western States, that had 
fought so gallantly with the Army of the Potomac through 
the Peninsular Campaign, at Bull Run, South Mountain and 
Antietam — that had stormed the Hights of Fredericksburg, 
displayed such soldierly daring at Chancellorsville and at 
Gettysburg, — that had strewn the Wilderness with their 
slain, and fought through all the bloody campaigns of sixty- 
four, from the Rapidan to Petersburg, — that by one of its 
divisions at Monocacy Junction, saved the Capital, — thence 
with Sheridan at Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, 
then back and over the old ground at Petersburg, at Five 
Forks, Sailoi-'s Creek and at Appomattox Court-House — 
ceased to exist. On all these fields, and a hvmdred others 
here unnamed, leaving everywhere its brave noble dead, 
and a record of deeds and of victories unsurpassed by any 
similar organization — thus these veterans, battle-scarred and 
war-worn, ceasing to be soldiers, glided into the pursuits of 
civil life and became citizens ! Men and officers, though 
mustered out of the United States service, still remained 
under military discipline, and were commanded by Major 
John A. Salisbury, a very excellent officer and a good 
disciplinarian, but who was now disposed to allow his men 
to be as jolly as they pleased. His own command and 
those other regiments of the brigade to whom the Major 
was well known, testified their respect for him, a respect 
won with them on the battle-field and in the camp, by 
marching in a grand torchlight procession to his quarters, 
and rendering such other tokens of esteem as were in their 
power to bestow. 

On the twenty-third, we started for home, marching 



155 

through Washington to the raih-oad station, where we took 
cars for New York. In passing through the city, joined by 
the One Hundred and Sixth New York, a regiment for 
which the Tenth Vermont had conceived an affectionate 
regard, which was by them freely reciprocated, we halted 
at the residence of Major-General James B. Ricketts, our 
old Division Commander, and gave the hero nine rousing 
cheers, which the General acknowledged with a full hear- 
of love. Arriving at New York on the evening of the 
twenty-fourth, we were quartered at the battery. Here all 
military restraint was relaxed for the time being, and the 
men had the freedom of the city. "Yet at roll-call the 
next morning," writes Captain Davis, '•'• every matt answered 
to his name," He adds, "If this does not speak well for 
the discipline and character of the Tenth Vermont, I am 
no soldier." The Captain was a soldier and a Christian 
gentleman, and would not be likely to pardon without 
rebuke, what he judged to be crime or folly. 

Major Salisbury took his command to Burlington, Ver- 
mont, by the most direct route, where they arrived at two 
o'clock A. M., on the twenty-seventh. The City Hall was 
brilliantly lighted and the citizens, with a large number 
of ladies in waiting, gave them a most generous and 
enthusiastic reception. But in vain searched thousands of 
moistened eyes among that sun-browned and battle-worn 
company for the dear boy who had gone forth with them 
three years ago ! Here, also, they were met by many of 
their old comrades, who had become disabled in the service, 
and had been discharged. Among those assembled to 
welcome them back to the State, perhaps no one was 
greeted with more hearty cheers than Brevet Brigadier- 
Genei-al William W. Henry, a former Colonel of the regi- 
ment. Major Salisbury made the following report to the 
Adjutant-General : 



156 
"General P. T. Washburn, 

Adjutant and Inspector General : — 

"General : — ^I have the honoi- to report, that on the 
twenty-second of June, 1865, fourteen officers and one 
hundred and thirty-six men of the Tenth Vermont Volun- 
teers, were transferred to the Fifth Vermont Regiment, and 
thirteen officers and fovir hundred and fifty-one men were 
mustered ovit of the service. I left Washington, June 
twenty-third, at noon, for Burlington, Vermont, in command 
of the Tenth Vermont Regiment ; arriving in New York^ 
Saturday the twenty-fourth, at eight o'clock in the evening, 
where we were met by Colonel Frank E. Howe, and 
remained over night. At noon, the twenty-fifth, we took 
passage on the Mary Benton^ and arrived in Albany at half 
past three o'clock Monday morning, June twenty-sixth, 
where we were well received. We left Albany at noon the 
same day and arrived in Burlington at two o'clock Tuesday 
morning, where we had a pleasant reception. The men 
were furloughed until July third, when they returned, and 
were paid oft" by Major Wadleigh. Officers and men on 
the route behaved admirably, and won great commendation. 
"I am, General, with great respect, 

"Your obedient servant, 

"Major J. A. SALISBURY." 

The men were fui'loughed for six days, and at the expir- 
ation of that time returned and were finally discharged — 
only four hundred and fifty out of one thousand in the 
beginning ! For the rest they had laid down their lives on 
the battlefield, fallen with disease and wounds, or exhausted 
their strength in the service of our country ! Noble offer- 
ings, every one ! 



^51 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MUCH remains which might be said in honor and 
praise of the noble men and officers of this regi- 
ment, whose histoiy has been attempted in the preceding 
pages. But aside from brief biographical sketches of the 
officers who fell in battle, and a somewhat imperfect roster 
of both officers and men, little more will be here recorded. 
The efficiency of the regiment, although equal to any other 
from the State, was possibly diminished by the large num- 
ber of details of officers who served a part of their time 
outside of the organization as general staff officers, and by 
the still larger number of enlisted men and non-commis- 
sioned officers who received appointments in the colored 
troops. Many of the latter were commissioned Captains in 
this corps, and some were made Majors and Lieutenant- 
Colonels. Several of them now hold commissions in the 
regular army of the United States, and are doing service in 
its various departments throughout the Union. Qiiite a 
number of our officers obtained appointments in the Com- 
missary and Quarter-Master Departments of the volunteer 
army. 

Captain A. B. Valentine, our first Qiiarter-Master, an 
officer of great energy and efficiency, became Brigade Com- 
missary, and was assigned to the "Old Brigade." 

Captain John A. Sheldon, after serving with great 
credit in the regiment, where he was universally beloved, 
obtained a similar appointment in another brigade of the 
Army of the Potomac. 



158 

Captain H. W. Kingsley, after having been once 
severely vs^ounded in action, bravely fighting vv^ith his com- 
pany, and while acting as commissary of subsistence in our 
brigade, was appointed a full "Captain of Commissary" 
and assigned to duty in the Sixth Corps. 

Captain Charles H. Reynolds, also a Quarter-Master 
in the Tenth Regiment, and a thoroughly good fellow, was 
appointed an Assistant Qiiarter-Master, and served in the 
Artillery Corps. 

Captain Hiram R. Steel was appointed a Commissary 
of Subsistence and sent to New Orleans. He was Captain 
of Company K, and was severely wounded at Spottsylvania, 
in consequence of which he could not again endure the 
hardships of a campaign. 

Edward P. Farr, who went out a private in Company 
G, rose through all the grades below in the line, and was 
appointed Captain and Assistant Qiiarter-Master United 
States Volunteers, and was assigned to duty at General 
Wright's headquarters. After Lee's surrender, General 
Wright was ordered to Texas, and Captain Farr went with 
him, where he remained some time after his regiment was 
mustered out of the United States service. 

Lieutenant-Colonel George B. Damon was for a long 
time Judge-Advocate on General Ricketts's staff"". 

Major Merritt Barber was Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
eral on General L. A. Grant's staff. 

Captain S. H. Lewis was Provost-Marshal on General 
Seymour's staff. 

Captain Rufus K. Tabor served for a long time on 
General Ricketts's staff. 

Lieutenants John A. Hicks, D. G. Hill, L. C. Gale 
and C. D. Bogue were aides-de-camp on General Morris's 
and Carr's staffs. 

All these officers rendered noble service to the army in 
their various capacities, but it was so much courage, so 



^59 

many soldierly qualities and so much efficiency taken, for 
much of the time, from the regiment. Large numbers of 
non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, also, were 
detailed to the Hospital, Commissary and Qiiarter-Master 
Departments in the field, to the Provost Guard, Brigade, 
Division and Corps Headquarters. And it is a fact, though 
no discredit to those who remained and always marched and 
fought with the regiment, that the most soldierly appearing 
and efficient men were chosen for those positions. All these 
men cannot be mentioned by name, yet it niay be said for 
them all that their service was often as arduous and as 
important to the army as that rendered by those who fought 
constantly in the ranks. On more than one occasion a 
private from Company H, John G. Bostwick, who was 
connected with the commissary department of our division, 
saved large amounts of Government property. Through 
his energy the troops and the hospital patients were often 
supplied with rations, where less diligence would have left 
them without. Many others, doubtless, in the same and in 
other departments, where the duties to be performed required 
the most faithful of men, served with equal ability outside 
of the ranks. 

Among the most faithful soldiers in the army were 
the Surgeons. To their skill and professional ability the 
wounded were indebted for the safe care of their injuries ; 
and the sick, who were carefully treated by them, will 
cherish memories of their kindness, and feel themselves 
under obligations that no measure of gratitude will ever 
repay. But the inefficient Surgeon, who, by accident or 
by unjust favor, happened to be placed upon the medical 
staff, was, to say the least, a great misfortune. 

Surgeon Willard A. Childe, who was in the service 
from the outbreak of the rebellion until the close, was our 
medical chief. He was sometime Brigade Surgeon, and for 
a longer time in charge of the Division Hospital. He was 



i6o 



an officer of eminent skill and a great deal of professional 
experience, with fine executive abilities, and he always filled 
the various positions of responsibility and trust assigned 
him with great credit to the profession. He was first 
Assistant Surgeon of the Fourth Vermont, and served with 
that command through the Peninsular Campaign. On the 
organization of the Tenth he was promoted to full Surgeon 
of this regiment. He remained with us, except the time he 
was detached for other duties, to the end, and came home 
with the old flag, a veteran of many honorable scars — on 
the men upon whom he had operated. The Doctor is not 
only a skillful surgeon but is something of a literatiis and a 
poet.* 

Our Assistant Surgeons, Joseph C. Rutherford and 
Almon Clark, were also exceedingly good officers. Sur- 
geon Rutherford was an old practitioner and could deal 
very skillfully with the fevers and the old chronic difficulties 
that frequently developed themselves in camp. He had the 
whole care of the ixgiment while Childe and Clark were on 
detached service, frequently for months at a time, and about 
the hospital and camp he was a painstaking officA". He 
was promoted to be Surgeon of the Seventeenth Regiment 
in March, 1S65. 

Surgeon Clark was a much younger physician, but his 
excellent qualification, and his earnest desire to succeed, with 
his great industry and faithfulness, abundantly made up for 
previous lack of experience. He was well and worthily 
loved by all who knew him and had occasion to require his 
professional service. He was promoted to be Surgeon of 
the First Vermont Cavalry. 

It has been thought that something about the Chaplaincy 
of this regiment ought to have more than a bare reference 
in this book, and it has been frequently and earnestly urged 

* See page 164. 



i6i 

that some account of the Chaplaha's service should be given 
for the sake of those who desire it. This is not the place, 
nor mine the pen, to record all that may be told, one way 
and another, of the Chaplaincy of this particular command, 
simply for the reason that I had the honor to fill the office 
for all except a few months of our military existence. Per- 
haps what follows may not be deemed obtrusive by any of 
my indulgent readers, as it partakes more of a general than 
a personal character. 

A o-ood and faithful Chaplain mav be a very useful officer. 
If he attends strictly to his own duties, and mamtams his 
Christian character, he will certainly be respected and his 
example and council will not entirely fail of their influence. 
I can say for the officers and men of the Tenth Vermont, 
that they sincerely desired the appropriate offices of the 
Chaplaincy taithfully performed, and if they were not, for 
the greater part of the time, the fault was not theirs. The 
duties of the Chaplain were to preach, when practicable, on 
Sunday, and always to show a marked interest in the moral 
and religious welfare of the men with whom he was associ- 
ated. He visits the sick in tlie regimental hospital and min- 
isters to their wants in every way that he can in camp, and 
assists in caring for the wounded in time of battle. He is 
often required to write letters to the distant friends of the 
disabled soldiers. His devotional work must grow out of 
his own heart and the needs of those around him, while his 
opportunities will suggest the time for doing it. There are, 
of course, a great many things which occasions will furnish, 
by which he may endear himself to the soldier and die sol- 
dier's friends, and these are presented in the camp, on the 
march and on the batdefield. There were a large number 
of religious men in our regiment who were connected with 
Christian churches. Hence, with other favoring circum- 
stances, it was not difficult to hold prayer meetings, even 
while engaged in an active campaign. We formed a regi- 



1 62 



mental chuixh, organized and officered as we thought the 
exigencies of the case required, and adopted the following 
declaration and Articles of Faith : 

"We, professiug to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as such 
holding Christian fellowship with various religious bodies liuown and 
recognized as Evangelical Churches, deem it necessary to form ourselves 
into a Christian Association, for the piurpose of promoting a personal re- 
ligious interest and for the general good of the cause of Christ among us. 

This Association shall be called The Regimental Church of the Tenth 
Vermont Infantry , and shall have power to receive members and exercise 
all the functions of any Christian Church, provided it does not conflict 
with the military authority of the regiment and the army regulations of 
the United States. 

The conditions of membership in this church shall be the same as in 
any Evangelical Church, except no one holding church membership with 
any other Evangelical Church may consider such relationship dissolved 
by uniting with this. This church shall not grant letters of dismission, 
only letters of recommendation pertaining to moral and religious char- 
acter. 

ARTICLES OF FAITH. 

We believe in one living and true God, everlasting, of infinite power 
and wisdom, of justice and goodness ; that He is the maker and preserver 
of all things, both visible and invisible ; and in the Unity of this Godhead 
there are three persons (so called) of one substance and the same attri- 
butes, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Son is the eternal 
God manifested in the flesh, hence two whole and perfect natures, tlie 
Godhood and manhood, are joined together in one person. He was cru- 
cified, suffered and died, the atoning sacrifice of the world, and is the 
Saviour of as many as believe on his name. 

"We believe in the truth of the Holy Scriptures, that all was given by 
inspiration, and is profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction in 
righteousness, that it contains all knowledge necessary to man's salva- 
tion. 

"We believe that except Jesus Christ there is no name given under 
heaven and among men whereby we must be saved. 

"We believe that without faith in Jesus Christ it is impossible to please 
God ; that we should have true evangelical repentance through our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and godly sorrow for all our sins; and that we 
should show forth visible testimony of our inward faith in Him as our 
living and risen Saviour by baptism. 



163 

We who have caused our names to be hereunto annexed, do pledge 
ourselves, by the grace of God, to observe with fidelit.y and godly fear 
these articles of faith, and do hereby pledge ourselves, in the presence 
of these witnesses and before God, to discharge faithfuUy the duties 
devolving upon us as members of the visible Church of Christ; that we 
will abstain from the vicious tendencies of camp life as much as ni us 
lies- that we will mutually cooperate with the majority of this body m 
devismo- means, under God, for the salvation of our companions in anns, 
and wiU strive together in love to promote a healthy Christian disciphne 
among us, that our efforts may redoimd to the honor and glory of our 
Divine Master. Amen. 

Tlie above are the original contents of the document 
drawn up and adopted in December, 1862. Nearly one 
hundred united with this church. Forty made profession 
of faith while in the service. While in winter quarters, 
at Brandy Station, Virginia, the Christian Commission 
kindly furnished the covering for a large chapel tent, which 
was erected by volunteer workmen and details from the 
recriment. This was not used exclusively for religious 
purposes, but it was never at any time interfered with 
under any circumstances, when desired for that purpose. 
While here we held meetings two or three times each week 
with very gratifying results. But this little chmxh soon 
became scattered, and its numbers so reduced by death and 
otherwise, that some time before the close of the war there 
was no organization left. Its members seemed to be among 
the first who felt; and the time came when the bugle call 
could not summon six to the place of prayer. But we 
trust that they will joyfully respond to the trumpet of the 
archangel in the last great day when all who are m the 
o-raves shall come forth. Let us hope that here in this 
Httle chapel many a heart was cheered by the promises 
made to the Christian, and the good influences that these 
"christian soldiers exerted, and the courage they displayed 
in many a conflict, drew inspiration from these religious 
associations. 



164 

The following poem was written by Willard A. Childe, 
Surgeon of the Tenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, on 
the first reunion of its officers and men at Waterbury, Ver- 
mont, October, 1865 : 

Comrades ! 't is good to meet once more, 

To talk om* battle history o'er, 

Once more to greet the friends made dear 

By many a day of grief or cheer — 

By many a danger bravely met — 

On many a field with good blood wet — 

The blood of those we loved and cherished 

Who for their country nobly perished. 

We meet to talk of roaring nights, 
Round many a camp-fire's flashing lights, 
Where laugh and song went gaily round, 
\ Scarce silenced by the Tattoo's sound — 

Of bivouacs forlorn and dreary — 
Of toiling marches wet and weary, 
Of sufi'erings in the winter camp — 
The picket's watch, the sentry's tramp — 
The rebel volley's deadly rattle — 
The cannon's roar — the crash of battle — 
The foe's fierce charge — the rebel yell ! — 
■ As 't were all devils loosed from hell ! 

Our steady ranks and answering cheer 
That ever filled their heai'ts with fear — 
As wavering, faltering back they fell 
Beneath the cannon-smoke's dread pall ! 

Of all of pleasure and of pain 
To-night we meet to talk again ; 
Happy in greeting all who 're here. 
And o'er those gone to drop a tear. 

And here I will venture a change in my metre. 

My thoughts flow more free when my feet are the fleeter ! 

There's little to tell of our stay in Vermont — 

It was " facings" and "marchings, " " eyes-right ! left and front ! " 

Of the trip down to Dixie there's nought worth repeating 

Save, the cars they were close, and the weather was heating — 

And om- journey we thought ne'er would come to an end 

And we all got so cross each hated his friend, 



i65 



And of starving and choking each soldier afraid is, 

Till at last, God be thanked, Philadelphia's ladies 

Beamed on us like angels of mercy so fair, 

Sure never was supper so sweet as that there. 

And all the old Tenth prayed for blessings that night 

On the dear Quaker girls and their glances so bright. 

But farewell must be said, and again on the cars 

Rolling Southward for glory, hard-tack and the wars ! 

Then there 's nothing important till we got to Camp Chase, 

"WTiere we thought we earned rest just for clearing the place ; 

But Stanton thought different and soon came the order, 

" Boot and saddle ! and mount and away to the border t " 

And where is the writer so brilliant and arch 

As to tell of the glories of that famous march ? 

And where is the pen that can fitly relate 

How in twenty -four hours we " three days rations " ate ? " 

Or the gallant achievement — for the weather was warm. 

Of leaving our knapsacks in Mr. Pyle's barn ? 

But onward we toiled over hills, vales and rocks, 

Till the left wing's headcjuarters were at Seneca Locks ; 

And the centre when simset did lengthen the shadows — 

Reposed their tired linibs in Pleasant's Meadows, 

While the right with the morn pressed on cheerful and merrj' 

Till they halted at last at Edwards Ferry. 

And here we remained with not much in our story 

For the next long eight mouths of battle or glory. 

For first we moved Northward and then we moved South — 

Till at last our right rested on Monocacy's mouth, 

"Where our horses drank water so potent and evil 

That rider and steed seemed bound for the devil ; 

And would tear to White's Ford on such a wild canter. 

As " Cutty Sark " frightened did poor Tarn O'Shauter. 

And here we bide through seasons three, 
A meiTy band of soldiery, 
"With nought to mar our happiness, 
"With nought of danger and distress. 
Save when disease and death's cold hand 
Called one by one from out our band 
Full many a comrade dearly loved 
"Whose worth had toil and trial proved — 
But laying them beneath the sod 
"We trust their soiUs now rest with God ! 



i66 

For his as true the sacrifice 
Who " in the line of duty " dies — 
Stricken by fever on his post 
As falling 'mid the fighting host ! 

We've neither time nor space to tell 
A tithe of all that us befell — 
Through Autumn's mud and "Winters snows, 
And when Spring brought the opening rose — 
How stern we watched the river dark 
And Loudon's hill-sides' earnest mark ; 
And o'er Potomac's tiny billows 
Fancy the clank of White's Guerrillas, 
And Company D, at the Hay Stacks 
See on the tow-path mystic tracks. 
And catch the gleam of signal lights 
From out the windows at Joe White's. 

Scant time have we e'en to recall 
The incidents of Surgeon's Call — 
Where draughts of " whiskey and quinine " 
Alternate with " 4—8—16 ! " 
Where Kelly swears that Dr. C. 
For " a growing pain " in a soldier's knee 
Gave this prescription — 'twas a beauty, 
" Cough Medicine three times a day," and " duty ! " 

Don't let the bard forget to sing 
How one fine day in early Spring 
The Major posted on the heights 
Of Edwards Ferry saw a sight. 
Which sounds at once all war's alarms, 
And calls the party all to arms ; 
Saw gathering round a tall hay stack 
A busy troop of figm-es black. 
Rebels of course, the thought arose ! 
Rebels! and therefore mortal foes. 
And bade " the section load with shell" 
" Take steady aim ! and give 'em hell ! " 
Across the river howled the shot 
The party quick " got up and got." 
And "victory on our banners perched, " 
Until the scout who went and searched 
Found a black corpse, gi-ave, coffin, pall and all — 
i^ought but a nigger funeral ! 



167 

But Spring passed on and Summer came, 
Our life from day to day the same, 
Till with the final days of June 
It rose to a more martial tune. 
And knapsacks strapped upon our back, 
We joined the Army of the Potomac. 
With weary marches through the mud. 
With many a ford through swollen flood, 
Thus passed the tedious months away, 
Till Autumn came with skies so gray — 
Then came the order front to move. 
And then the fight of Locust Grove ; 
Here first om- brave boj^s meet the foe 
And first that matchless courage show 
Which placed them ever in the van, 
To Sailor's Creek, from Eapidan ! 
Here many a noble fellow fell, 
And many an empty sleeve doth tell 
We have preser\ed inviolate 
The honor of our grand old State. 

This finishing the year's campaign, 
We Brandy Station sought again ; 
'T were vain to speak of Winter Quarters, 
Flirtatious with Virginia's daughters. 
Of drills by " Morris's rules of dancing ;" 
Of Morris's staff so gaily prancing ; 
Of how that staff' oft " made Rome howl " 
When gathered round the festive bowl ; 
Of dances in the chapel tent, 
Tho' 't was from the Commission lent. 
And Bro. Rose, he tried in vain 
To get it taken back again ! 

But March brought with it General Grant, 
Henceforth the war-cry 01 avant ! 
To Winter's joys we bade adieu ; 
Such joys that many a comrade knew. 

Here, friends, must close the poet's part. 
The rest is written on each heart ; 
He lacks the power to tell the story 
Aright of all the Old Tenth's glory. 
To nobler pens tlmt tasks belongs ; 
His are but simple camp-fire songs. 



i68 

Yet must a few fond words be said 
Of those not here — our noble de ad — 
They fell while fighting for the right, 
Their names for aye inscribed in light ! 
Their memories shrined within our breasts 
"While each in sileut slumber rests. 

Stetson ! the bold, the frank, the free ! 
Newton ! the quiet, scholarly, 
On the same field with gallant Frost, 
So dearly loved, so sadly lost ! 
Darrah ! so young, so fair, so brave. 
Untimely stricken to his grave. 
Our comrades fell on every field, 
Each sleepmg 'neath his " blue cross " shield I 
Monocacy's clear silent wave 
Flows gently past Peabodt's gi'ave ; 
While once the Opequan's fair stream 
Saw "Major Ned's " bright sabre gleam. 
Bitter to us that victory's cost. 
When Dillingham and Hill were lost. 
And sad the hearts on all that night. 
We saw Ned's face, at morn so bright 
Beneath the evening breezes' breath, 
Pallid, yet beautiful in death ! 
Thompson and Clark at Cedar Run ; 
Eeed at Lee's Lines — and every one 
Of all our comrades who in strife 
For freedom yielded up his life ; 
We honor with a holy pride 
All who thus bravely, nobly died ! 

So many fell on holy ground 
That time and space could not be found 
E'en were your Poet adequate 
Their virtues to commemorate ; 
We honor all — alike the word 
Of praise for rifle or for sword. 
Alike should be their epitaph, 
Who fell in glory's star-gemmed path, 
Whether from rank or file they sprung ; 
Whether the stafi' or line among — 
They died for Country — died for duty, 
Their lives were truth — their deaths were beauty. 



169 



MAJOR DILLINGHAM. 

Edwin Dillingham was born at Waterbury, Vermont, 
on the thirteenth day of May, 1S39. ^^ was the second 
son of Hon. Paul DilHngham and Julia C. Carpenter. The 
first years of his life were passed at the home of his parents, 
amidst some of the most delightful natural scenery in the 
State. Here the mountains are ever green in their towering 
magnificence to the sky. Almost every field is laced and 
ribboned by tireless, sparkling streams ; the soil, rich and 
stubborn in its fertility, yields its fruits only to the steady 
persistence of a hardy race ; and here, almost in sight of the 
State Capitol and within the immediate circle of its legis- 
lative and social influences, and always under the more 
refining elements of a Christian home, the years of boyhood 
and youth were numbered. Like other boys, we presume 
he passed them quietly, not varying much from the round 
of sports and duties of New England's revered manual for 
the training of her sons, although other homes have not 
been so richly endowed by Christian example. His oppor- 
tunities for an education, we are informed, wei'e respectable 
and diligently improved. Always found at his task, he 
won the admiration of his teachers ; ever kind and of a 
happy spirit, he was loved by his fellow students. Enjoying 
the highest advantages aftbrded by the common schools and 
academies of his native State, he here received all the 
instruction deemed absolutely essential to entering success- 
fully upon his professional studies. He chose the profession 
of the law, and commenced his preparation for the bar, in 
1858, in the office of his brother-in-law, the Hon. Matthew 
H. Carpenter, now a Senator in Congress, in the city of 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where, however, he remained but 
a few months. Upon leaving the office of Mr. Carpenter, 
12 



170 

he entered the Law School at Poughkeepsie, New York, 
where he graduated with honor, in the autumn of 1859. 
He finally finished his studies, preparatory to the practice 
of the law, in th*e office of Dillingham and Durant, in his 
native town, his father being the senior member of the firm, 
and then Lieutenant-Governor and afterwards Governor of 
the State. In September, 1S60, he was admitted to practice 
at the Washington County bar ; and it is said, "though the 
youngest," was considered " one of its most promising 
members." Subsequently he became the law partner of 
his father ; and thus established in his profession, and thus 
associated, he continued until July, 1862. We have often 
heard him speak of this arrangement as one most suited to 
his tastes, and doubt not that it was one of great promise 
and profit. It may be that he had expected to reap much 
from the great ability, experience and wide reputation of 
his father as an advocate and statesman, and so enrich his 
own mind for the largest duties of his calling, either in its 
immediate sphere, or else fit himself for the demands of a 
wider field, and prepare to win the honor to which the young 
ambition may justly aspire. But whatever schemes of this 
kind he might have entertained, they were not destined to be 
realized ; even if they did float dimly, yet with golden wings, 
befoi^e his mind, his nature was not one to remain imdisturbed 
by the dark war-cloud that had for two terrible years stretched 
from the Gulf to the northern boundaries of his native State. 
Its mutterings, mingling with the cries of the slain of his 
own kinsmen and companions in peace, were notes of sum- 
mons. Though the silver lining of other dark clouds had 
betokened promise, this had turned to blood, and he would 
go and do battle for his country. Forgetting party affinities 
and severing dearer and sweeter ties, he, with thousands 
more, would make the sacrifice of his young life upon the 
Nation's altar. But to write all that was noble of this officer 
would be but to repeat what has been in a thousand instances 



171 

already made historic, and for him, we his compatriots, and 
subordinates in rank, because he has taken a higher commis- 
sion, have but to record the epitaphs of the brave ! 

Upon the President's call for three hundred thousand 
troops, issued in July, 1862, he actively engaged in recruit- 
ing a company in the w^estern part of Washington County, 
of which he was unanimously chosen Captain. These 
recruits finally became Company B, of the Tenth Regiment 
Vermont Volunteers, and were really the first raised for 
that regiment, but in consequence of a company organiza- 
tion then existing, though formerly designed for the Ninth 
Regiment, he was obliged to take this position in the 
Tenth. Soon after the regiment was fairly in the field, he 
was detailed as Assistant Inspector-General on the staff 
of Brigadier-General Morris, then commanding the First 
Brigade, Third Division, Third Army Corps, Army of the 
Potomac. He acted in the capacity of aide-de-camp to this 
officer during the battle of Locust Grove, November twenty- 
seventh, 1863, and while carrying an order to his own 
regiment his horse was shot under him and he was taken 
prisoner. Then he was marched most of the way to Rich- 
mond and incarcerated in Libby prison, where he was kept 
for four long months in durance vilest. In March following, 
he was paroled and soon exchanged, when he immediately 
returned to the field and to his old command. General 
Grant was at this time making his celebrated campaign 
from the Rapidan to Petersburg, and consequently rendered 
approach to the immediate scene of operations extremely 
difficult. Still, troops of every arm of the service were being 
hurried forward, and Captain Dillingham was put in com- 
mand of a battalion of exchanged prisoners and enlisted 
men, which he led to the front, fighting some of the way. 
He dismissed his men to their respective commands, and 
reported for duty at Cold Harbor, June third, 1864. 

Colonel Jewett had resigned. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry 



and Major Chandler had been promoted respectively to the 
first ranks in the command. Captain Frost, the ranking line 
officer, was breathing his last the hour he arrived ; one-third 
of the regiment vs^ere lying dead on the field and wounded 
in the hospital, and the rest, begrimed with dirt and powder, 
within close range of the enemy, were looking down into the 
Chickahominy Swamp, within steeple view of Richmond. 
Colonel Henry had been wounded on the first instant, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler soon afterwards became sick, 
and Captain Dillingham took command of the regiment, 
although he held it but a short time, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Chandler returning to duty. The remaining awful days 
until the twelfth, was his second battle with his regiment. 
On the seventeenth of June, 1864, he was commissioned 
Major, and went with the troops to James River and Ber- 
muda Hundreds, where, with a large part of the corps, they 
were ordered into action by General Butler. But General 
Wright delayed obedience to the order, and his corps was 
finally extricated by General Meade, after remaining under 
a most distressing artillery fire from the enemy's battery for 
several hours. From this time until his death he was con- 
stantly with the regiment, and some of the time in command. 
On the sixth of July, 1864, the Third Division of the 
Sixth Corps was detached from the Army of the Potomac, 
and the two remaining divisions soon afterwards, and were 
sent into the Shenandoah Valley, under General Sheridan. 
Arriving at Frederick City, Maryland, on the eighth, he 
was second in command at the battle of Monocacy, fought 
on the ninth, Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler being detailed to 
command the skirmish line, and Colonel Henry in command 
of the regiment. After marching untold leagues from Fred- 
erick to the Relay House, to Washington, up the Potomac 
to Leesburg, over into the Shenandoah Valley, through 
Snicker's Gap, where we had a skirmish with the enemy 
over and in the river on the eighteenth, back to George- 



173 

town by way of Chain Bridge, again up the Potomac as far 
as the mouth of the Monocacy, thence to Frederick, Har- 
per's Ferry, Winchester and Strasburg, back to Harper's 
Ferry, by way of Charleston — over six hundred miles since 
we had set foot in Maryland on the eighth of July. It was 
now the twenty-second of August. On the twenty-first, the 
whole corps was attacked vigorously by the enemy, drawing 
in the pickets in front of the Second Division, while the 
troops were lying quietly in camp or preparing for Sunday 
morning inspection. Here, for the first time, young Dilling- 
ham was ordered to lead his command to battle. The regi- 
ment, however, was not prominently engaged, and he had 
no opportunity to distinguish himself. When asked how he 
felt, invested with the full command at such a time, he 
replied : "I felt as if we should make a good fight, but I 
rather wished that Hemy had been there." From this time 
he commanded the regiment until he fell at the glorious 
field of Winchester on the nineteenth of September, 1864. 

We may not here describe that battle. It was a decisive 
victory for our arms and the country. ' T was a golden 
victory. It lifted higher the national banner than any 
other battle of the year north of Atlanta. But the eye of 
prescience could have discerned a thousand emblems of 
mourning stretched beneath its starry folds, and seen the 
tears of as many northern homes falling for their dead, yet 
re-consecrating the flag ! One was mourned in Waterbury ! 
Major Dillingham had fallen ! 

Washington County Court was in session, and attorneys 
were contending by peaceful process for the civil rights of a 
few clients. In Virginia, its youngest and most promising 
member, who had thrown his sword into the vaster scale of 
justice, was contending for the civil rights of the Nation. 
Under orders to charge the enemy, whose front was ablaze 
with cannon and abatised with fixed bayonets, he was firmly 
pacing back and forth along his battle line, steadying its for- 



174 

mation and awaiting the final signal to advance. Those who 
saw him say that he heeded not the missiles of death that 
fell thick arovmd him and his brave men. Keenly he eyed 
the foe — anxiously he awaited the onset. To him it never 
came. About noon, while in this position, he was struck 
by a solid twelve-pound shot on the left thigh, and borne 
bleeding and dying to the rear. In two hours he was no 
more. The regiment charged and nobly avenged the death 
of its Major, but he had gone another way. Though he 
never recovered from the nervous shock produced by this 
wound, he did not lose consciousness until his noble spirit 
departed. He conversed occasionally with those around 
him. Among his last words, was the utterance: '"I have 
fallen for my country. lam not afraid to die." The first 
were inspired by patriotism, the last by Christianity ! His 
remains were borne to Waterbury and interred, where the 
spirit of honor watches over the treasured dust ; and when 
the history of Vermont's noble men is written, the names of 
her heroes fairly recorded, we shall read high upon the scroll 
the name of Major Edwin Dillingham. 



175 



CAPTAIN FROST. 

Edwin Brant Frost was born in Sullivan, Cheshire 
County, New Hampshire, December thirtieth, 1S33. In 
1837 ^^is father's family moved to Thetford, Vermont, where 
his boyhood was spent, and at whose academy he fitted for 
college. 

He entered Dartmouth College in 1854, ^rid graduated 
with honor in 1S5S. For a short time after graduating, 
young Frost taught school in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, 
and in Royalston, Massachusetts. He then commenced the 
study of law, which he pursued but a few months, when he 
entered the office of his brother. Dr. C. P. Frost, then 
engaged in an extensive practice at St. Johnsbury, Vermont. 
It seems that he changed his course of study because he 
believed himself better adapted to the practice of medicine 
than that of the legal profession. 

Here he remained until May, 1S62, when his ardent and 
patriotic nature could withstand no longer the imperative 
call of his imperiled country. The student shut up his 
books, and, like the heroes of his college memories and 
classic studies — like the companions of his youth and asso- 
ciates of later years, now veterans in the field, put off the 
toga and donned the armor to meet the foes of Freedom 
and Constitutional Liberty. 

He was commissioned to raise a company, and went to 
work in the face of many obstacles, with the enthusiasm 
which characterized his sanguine temperament ; soon suc- 
ceeded, and was chosen its Captain. This Company was 
designed for the Ninth Regiment, and was only one click 
of the telegraph too late for such an assignment. For this 
disappointment, however, he was given the right company 
of a new orsranization. This also accounts for the fact that 



176 

his commission dates nearly a month earlier than any other 
officer's in the Tenth Regiment. So, he went to the scenes 
with which we are all familiar, and which terminated his 
earthly career, leaving a proud record upon the field of 
battle, and many friends to lament his untimely death. In 
the service he was noted for his extensive acquaintance and 
numerous friendships. It is doubted if there was an officer 
in the army who was personally so widely known. He had 
friends in every regiment from the State, and many from 
other States ; besides, he was a man who could make new 
friends wherever he went. Colonel Merrill, of St. Johns- 
bury, now of Rutland, a man eminently qualified to judge, 
thus speaks of him : " No mental peculiarity was more 
strongly marked than a playfulness of fancy that seemed a 
well-spring of perpetual pleasantry. The ludicrous com- 
parison, the witty repartee, seemed as much a part of him- 
self as the spray is a part of a cascade." 

This, added to his marked personal appearance, won him 
hosts of friends, and rendered it impossible for those who 
had once seen him to ever forget him. Many a camp 
scene has he enlivened with his jovial songs, and his happy 
faculty of making the best of everything and everybody. 
He was a man of great refinement and considerable culture, 
freely quoting passages from Homer and Virgil, as well as 
modern literature, whenever it suited his convenience ; of 
the most generous impulses, kind and full of good nature, 
and a "prince of good fellows." "Old Time" we called 
him, a sobriquet suggested by his long flaxen beard and 
golden hair. He was slow to take offence, if, indeed, any 
were disposed to give it. When aroused his strongest 
expression would be "By Harry!" or "By Jupiter!" His 
familiar manners gave him a ready passport to any man's 
confidence, while many of his companions in arms tenderly 
loved him. As expressive of his own attachment, and a 
sincere tribute of manly love, General Henry says of him : 



177 

"In a two years' acquaintance I have found him the fast 
friend, the courteous gentlemen, and I had come to love him 
as a brother." It may be doubted if that officer did weep 
more sincerely over the death of his own brother, who fell 
in the terrible breach at Petersburg, than b}' the mangled 
body of Frost. 

But he possessed other qualities which entitle him to a 
loftier commendation. Underneath all this playfulness, 
underlying the buoyant spirit, was a professed reverence 
for, and devout dependence upon, God. I think that he 
always cherished a Christian spirit. This, at least, was 
his testimony at the beginning and end of his martial life. 
When elected Captain of his company, his words breathe 
this spirit: "Soldiers, we have chosen the profession of 
arms, and with this choice the stern responsibilities of war ; 
and under God, we will do our duty." Again, when the 
last sands were rvnining out, or to be less fictitious, the last 
drop of his life's blood was ebbing away, with a feeble 
voice he exclaimed : "I have fallen in the foremost rank for 
my country and my God. I am happy I" 

He was also a brave and capable officer. In half a 
score of battles his commanding officers ever speak of him 
as bearing himself nobly, and as exhibiting the best type of 
bravery and efficiency. General Henry writes of him after 
his death, to his friend. Colonel Merrill, as one of Ver- 
mont's "bravest and best." 

Knowing all this, his friends have asked, and will ask 
again, "Why was he not promoted.'' Why was he cheated 
of the rank rightfully due him as commander of Company 
A, and this, too, in a regiment where promotions were 
sujjposed to come rapidly.?" Perhaps this supposition 
Was a mistake. Still, there are several probable answers 
to the question. There really was but one opportutunity 
to confer this advancement, pi'evious to Colonel Jewett's 
resignation, while he lived. This occurred upon the res- 



1 78 

ignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Edson, October sixteenth, 
1862. General Henry, then Major, was promoted, justly, 
to fill the vacancy, and Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, then 
Captain of Company I, was promoted to the Majority. 
According to the customs of the service, sought to be 
enforced, but which were never strictly observed in this 
regiment. Captain Frost should have been raised to a field 
officer's rank. He and his friends expected it, and were 
sore under the disappointment. But CajDtain Chandler, as 
an officer late of the Fourth Regiment, who had seen sei'v- 
ice and had experience in the Peninsular Campaign, it was 
said would be a more valuable acquisition to the field staff* 
at that time than any other subaltern in the regiment. 
Were there any political considerations in this? — no mili- 
tary policy meant to guard against possible contingencies.'' 
There was something said at the time about unredeemed 
pledges of officers, both civil and military, but none of 
which were publicly declared. Still, no injustice should 
appear in this record ; and if there was injustice, it may be 
added, Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler was innocent of it. 

The next oppoi'tunity that occurred for promotion to a 
field rank was upon the resignation of Colonel Jewett, on 
the twenty-fifth of April, 1864. Then there was a studied 
conspiracy to prevent his promotion, and its authors and 
abettors, it is feared, though alleging various plausible pre- 
texts, used unsoldierly and ungenerous means to prejudice 
his otherwise possible chances. They succeeded. But 
many of those who were thus identified, it is just to observe, 
sincerely repented of the opposition ; others obliterated it 
in deeds of valor, while some of them washed out the stain 
with their own blood. But we must forget all this, as he 
forgave it all. With his dying breath he said: "You are 
all my friends, and I forgive all who have tried to injure 
me, and I shall die with a heart void of offence toward all 
men." This answer must satisfy his friends. Two ghastly 



179 

wounds, either mortal, finished his strife with men, without 
a stain upon his military record. 

These wounds were received about nine o'clock on the 
morning of the third of June, 1864, at Cold Harbor, a time 
when the regiment suflered more severely in the loss of 
men than in any other engagement during its period of serv- 
ice. He endured five hours of extreme agony, and then, 
as if lying down to sleep, slept in death. Conscious to the 
last, with the "ruling passion strong in death," he disposed 
of his effects, sometimes with playful allusion to those who 
would receive them. Though no more to the friends who 
stood around him, and those distant from the scene, "he left, 
in language emphasized and marked by his rich blood, that 
which speaks more in his silence — the assurance of a 
patriot ennobled by a Christian's death." 

He was buried rudely but tenderly, amid the falling tears 
of the few friends who gathered around him, and the shock 
of battle, that a few hovirs before had swept Stetson, New- 
ton, and the gallant Townsend, of the One Hundred and 
Sixth New York, with many of their brave comrades, 
beneath the blood-stained turf — that then drove Blodgett 
and Hunt crippled forever from the field, and the latter by 
the same ball that passed through his body, and the storm 
which rolled on until Darrah, Dillingham, Hill, Thompson 
and Clark, and a hundred more, were counted with its 
victims. 



i8o 



CAPTAIN THOMPSON. 

LuciAN D. Thompson was born at Waterbury, Vermont, 
in 1831. Of his early life nothing has been definitely ascer- 
tained except that by occupation he was a farmer, and 
previous to i860 he had spent some time in California as 
a miner. He entered the service in 1862, on the twelfth of 
July, and assisted Major Dillingham and Lieutenant Stetson 
in raising Company B, for the Tenth Regiment Vermont 
Volunteers. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant of 
tliis Company, on the fourth of August following. But his 
excellent qualities and soldierly deportment soon marked 
him for advancement, even before he had been tried by the 
test of battle. Within four months he was promoted to a 
First-Lieutenancy in Company G, made vacant by the pro- 
motion of Captain Blodgett. Again, after abundant tests of 
his mettle in a dozen battles, he was promoted to be Captain 
of Company D, June seventeenth, 1864. But he never 
sought these promotions. His modesty forbade him ever 
seeking any but a place of danger or duty, and his generous 
nature often led him to perform a friend's duty when he, 
by the customs of the service, was temporarily relieved of 
responsibility. 

He even hesitated to accept his first promotion. He said 
that he did not like to part with his company associates, and 
he did not want promotion until he had earned it. At last his 
manhood earned him all the titles that were ever conferred 
upon him. His friendship was perpetual ; those to whom 
he was attached could not be maligned in his presence. He 
never boasted of what he -would do, but did all in camp, 
campaign and battle that fell to his lot. He was brave but 
never reckless, cautious and never timid. He questioned 
no authority — "never reasoned why." In the execution of 



I«I 



the vast labors of a good comjoany commander, and in 
bearing those large responsibilities, he only doubted his own 
fitness. 

By his modesty, frankness, stern integrity and ingen- 
uous friendship, he won the confidence of all, by his faith- 
fulness and patriotism, their respect, and was well deserving 
of his country. He participated in all the battles and 
skirmishes of the regiment up to the time of his death, and 
among them the following : Locust Grove, Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Monocacy, Win- 
chester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. At this last-named 
battle, on the morning of the nineteenth of October, 1S64, 
he was instantly killed. The army lying on the north bank 
of the Creek, behind slight intrenchments, was surprised 
on the extreme left of the line before daybreak, attacked 
and driven from its position. This at once compelled a 
change in the position of the right, of which our command 
formed a part, and we were formed in line of battle exactly 
at right angles to the original position ; thus we were 
brought squarely in front of the enemy. Here the broken 
columns of the left passed us, and the enemy pressing on 
in force, we were obliged to fall back, and this line was 
soon occupied by him. But his exultation was brief. We 
charged and retook the position, recovering three pieces of 
Captain McKnight's Battery which had been abandoned 
upon our first advance movement, and drove the rebels in 
confusion across the valley and over the ridge beyond. 
They soon rallied, however, in front and on the right and 
left, and the troops on the left of us falling back, both flanks 
were exposed, and again we fell back. It was in this 
action that Captain Thompson was killed, after two hours 
of desperate fighting. He was hit in the head, the ball 
passing through from ear to ear. Here, also. Lieutenant B. 
B. Clark was mortally wounded. Many other officers were 



I«2 



wounded, and one-third of the entire commaxid was placed 
hors du combat. 

Company D had now lost two Captains. Perhaps it is 
remarkable that both were shot through the head, and both 
"died and made no sign." But more remarkable that 
Washington County here lost the last of the three gallant 
officers whom it sent out with Company B, in the summer 
of 1862. Each had fallen fighting nobly with the brave 
men they commanded. In the subsequent operations of the 
day, through which defeat was turned into glorious victory, 
Thompson's body was recovered, and it now reposes near 
the home that his death shadowed, and which his patriotic 
memories must ever help to sanctify. 



i83 



' CAPTAIN DARRAH. 

Samuel Darrah was born in Poultney, Vermont, In 
1840. Of his boyhood, early education, and personal expe- 
rience with the world, we know nothing. Some years pre- 
vious to his entering the service he was chief clerk in Stan- 
ford's dry goods house, Burlington, Vermont. This fact 
is sufficient to warrant the inference that he was a young 
man of excellent business tact, trusted integrity, and of high 
moral standing. As a soldier, his military record more 
than justifies this inference. He became a brave and trusty 
officer, and well merited the praise bestowed upon him by 
his commanders. He entered the service in July, 1862, 
and was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company D, 
August fifth following. Soon after, upon the resignation 
of Captain G. F. Appleton, he was promoted Captain of 
Company D, in which capacity he served God's time, and 
desei"ved the awards of highest valor for the great sacrifice 
he made. Probably no record which could be made would 
do him exact justice. Indeed it may be said for those who 
desire such a record, the reminiscences of friendly alliance 
and companionship, of tibials and dangers borne together, of 
hopes mutually cherished, — these will abundantly supply it. 

Captain Darrah was complimented for bravery and 
coolness in action, in Colonel Jewett's official report of the 
battle of Locust Grove, November 27, 1S63. In Colonel 
Henry's official report of his death he speaks of him as an 
"active, intelligent, and exceedingly brave and efficient 
young officer." Also Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, in an 
official report to General Washburne of the engagement of 
the third of June, made on the sixth, speaks of him in terms 
of brotherly commendation. Qiiick to learn the duties of a 
soldier, faithful and energetic in their performance, he was 



I 184 

one of our most popular company commanders. No doubt 
his kind and genial spirit, his generous nature, and his 
ready adaptation to the customs of more experienced sol- 
diers, won for him many warm friends, and made his death, 
in addition to his loss to the service, the more lamentable. 

The following are some of the general engagements in 
which he participated : Locust Grove, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, Tolopotamy Creek, and Cold Harbor on the 
first and thii'd of June. He was killed on the sixth of June, 
at Cold Harbor, in front of regimental headquarters, while 
in command of his company, by a rebel sharpshooter, the 
ball entering the back part of his head and coming out just 
above his left eye. It is said that this fatal ball first passed 
through the butt of a Springfield rifle stock, did its work of 
death, and then cut off" a small sapling beyond. He lived 
five hours, though probably unconscious of pain. This at 
least was the oj^inion of Surgeon Childe, who was present 
at his death, and sincerely mourned his loss. His remains 
were immediately conveyed to Vermont, and in his native 
town rests all that mother earth may claim of Captain 
Samuel Darrah. 



iS.- 



LIEUTENANT STETSON. 

Ezra Stetson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 
the year 1S35, and was about forty years old when he died, 
June first, 1864. His ancestors, on his father's side, were 
among the early generations of Plymouth Colony. His 
great-grandtather, Robert Stetson, was a man of some dis- 
tinction in old colonial times, having been a cornet in the 
first "troop of horse" in the Colony. He was a soldier in 
the war against King Philip, an officer and commissioner of 
the General Court, and a member of the Council of War for 
many years during the earlier Indian disturbances. Ezra's 
father was the seventh son of Cornet Stetson. A short time 
after he was born, his parents moved to the northern part of 
Vermont and settled in Troy. They were highly respectable 
people, and his father was a deacon in the Baptist Church. 

Like his ancestors, the subject of this sketch seems to 
have been a man of considerable enterprise. When a boy, 
fourteen years old, he journeyed from his northern home in 
Vermont to his birthplace in Boston, and returned all the 
way on foot. Eight years afterwards we find him, having 
in the meantime been bred a mechanic, established in Bur- 
lington as a millwright, where he worked at his trade until 
1850. In the spring of this year he started for California, 
and sailed from New York in the steamship Georgia. He 
was, however, detained on the Isthmus with the whole 
ship's coiiipany for several weeks. During his stay there 
occurred what has been called the "Great Riot" of 1S50, 
in which many Americans lost their lives, and Stetson him- 
self very narrowly escaped Spanish vengeance. In Cali- 
fornia he engaged in various enterprises, none of which, 
though diligently pursued, seemed to bring him much 
profit. He tried mining for a year, at the same time ven- 
13 



1 86 



tured in several kinds of speculation. He was caught in 
the Gold Bluff excitement ; but finally got out of it and 
returned to San Francisco. He then successfully under- 
took to publish and bring out a "Directory" of that city for 
185 1-2. Here also he engaged in manufacturing concen- 
trated milk, and afterwards was permanently employed in 
the construction of the San Francisco Water Works. In 
1853, he again engaged in mining, and in the construction 
of machinery for mining purposes, until 1858. He then 
returned to Vermont and subsequently went into mercantile 
business at Montpelier. 

In 1862, he enlisted and recruited a number of men, who 
finally joined Captain Dillingham's Company, of which he 
was made First Lieutenant and placed in Company B, 
Tenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers. Most of the time in 
the field he commanded this company, his captain having 
been detailed on staff duty, and othei-vvise separated from 
his command. He was with his regiment and at his post 
while the troops were in the defences of Washington doing 
guard duty in the winter of 1862-3, and all their campaigns 
and battles in 1863-4 "'^til the first of June, 1864. On this 
day, fatal to so many of the Vermont men, and especially 
to this regiment, he fell, while bravely charging the enemy 
at the head of his company at the battle of Cold Harbor. 
He was struck by a minie ball just below his left eye and 
was instantly killed. Our troops retiring, he was left 
between the lines several days, but his body was finally 
recovered and buried on the field where he fell. He was 
the first commissioned officer who was killed from this regi- 
ment. Lieutenant Stetson was a brave and capable officer, 
more than deserving the rank he enjoyed. He fairly won 
a Captain's commission, and, doubtless, he would have 
received it had he survived this battle. But in the list with 
many others we cannot estimate his patriotic service by the 
rank he bore. His sacrifice will be its true, full measure. 



i87 



LIEUTENANT NEWTON. 

Charles G. Newton was born in Rochester, Vermont, 
on the eighth da}- of August, 1S37, ^^^^ ^^ the time of his 
death, June first, 1S64, was twenty-three years of age. His 
early life was one of toil, and something of personal sacri- 
fice, although he was blest with a pleasant Christian home, 
that was by no means destitute of those elements of refine- 
ment and piety which educate sons to be noble men, and 
daughters to be true women. Yet his father did not possess 
the means to give him the extended opportunities for a lib- 
eral education, which he was ambitious to acquire. Thus 
he was compelled to struggle for himself to obtain what 
did not fall to him by inheritance. He was able to attend 
school two terms in the year by teaching in the winter and 
working on the farm in the summer. Pursuing this course, 
by the utmost diligence and economy, he finally fitted for 
college at the Barre Academy, and was entered at Middle- 
bury, in 1S61. Here he remained for one year, until July, 
1S62, when the President's call for more troops awoke him 
from his student life and called him forth to higher duties. 
He immediately left college and commenced recruiting for 
the Tenth Regiment, and was chosen Second Lieutenant of 
Company G, August twelfth, 1S62. In the command he 
was known as a quiet, honorable Christian gentleman. An 
intimate family friend speaks of him in civil life, as "dis- 
tinguished for close application, and some good common 
sense, rather than for any dazzling brightness." So was he 
faithful and diligent in the discharge of his military duties. 
He never was heard to complain of the hardest lots, shar- 
ing them equally with his men. TiTisted and respected by 
all who knew him, he was loved by those who knew him 
best. He seldom asked to be excused from duty ; if you 



found the regimental camp, you usually found him. He 
was entrusted with responsible and even difficult tasks by 
his superior officers. At Mine Run, Colonel Jewett entnisted 
to him such a part. We all remember the night of De- 
cember first, 1863, or rather it was the morning of Decem- 
ber second, when General Meade withdrew his army from 
Mine Run, and recrossed the Rapidan to Brandy Station. 
The whole regiment was on picket, and was among the last 
ti^oops to be withdrawn. The order which General Carr 
whispered into the ear of Colonel Jewett, was to move 
noiselessly at three o'clock A. M. We waited through the 
cold night silently, or spoke in whispers of the dangers of 
getting oft'— -waited patiently for the telling of the hour, then 
a few moments more for Lieutenant Newton to bring in our 
advanced picket from a dangerous post. Then we went 
with as little noise as possible, but went lively. 

He was in every battle of the regiment until he was 
killed. The first of June, 1864, found him in his place at 
the battle of Cold Harbor. While the column was charging 
the enemy, by brigades, the Tenth Regiment, in advance of 
its proper position, halted a moment for its supports, he was 
seen bending forwaixl, looking towards one of the exposed 
flanks, and heard to say : "I see the scamps ! I see them !" 
and in that instant, in the attitude described, his throat was 
cut by a minie ball. It was instantaneously fatal. We gave 
him the rites of Christian burial, amid the thunders of the 
next day's battle, a short distance from the place where he 
fell, beneath a mulberry and a sassafras tree, which grew 
up strangely into a common trunk. It was a patriot's and a 
Christian's grave ; but it has been disturbed, and his dust 
gathered to his native town, and afflicted parents and loving 
sisters keep the vigils of his grave. 

Lieutenant Newton never received promotion, although 
not because he was not thought to deserve it. Few of our 
officers had been promoted at that time, no vacancies occur- 



189 

ring except by resignation, and they had not been frequent. 
Had he lived he surely would have been honored with 
higher rank. 



190 



LIEUTENANT HILL. 

Daniel Gilbert Hill was born in Hubberton, Rut- 
land County, Vermont, in the year 1844, and at the time of 
his death was about twenty years old. Some years pre- 
vious to the breaking out of the rebellion his parents settled 
in Wallingford, a town in the southern part of the county, 
where his father, Arnold Hill, now a merchant of that 
place, engaged in agricultural pursuits. Gilbert was reai^ed 
upon the farm tilled by his father. His home was situated 
in one of the pleasantest and most romantic villages in the 
State. The place is nestled down between the hills which 
flank it on the east and west, in the valley and upon the 
banks of the Otter Creek, where every inch of soil is equal 
to just what the tiller may demand of it. In the centre of 
the valley flows the clear but somewhat sluggish stream. 
Its course is so regularly crooked that it is with great difii- 
culty that one following its course can determine upon 
which bank he is. However, its general course is thought 
to be north, and it empties into Lake Champlain, a hundred 
miles to the north of the place where its headwaters sepa- 
rate with those of the Battenkill, which flow south. 

On this creek are some of the best farms in New Eng- 
land, and upon one of them Gilbert was bred to that mus- 
cular toil which gave him such an admirable physique and 
his robust constitution, that could endure everything. At 
the beginning of the war he was in the employ of Messrs. 
Lewis and Fox, druggists, in Rutland. Here, it may be 
supposed, he cultivated, under the excellent tuition of Doc- 
tor Lewis, habits of carefulness and inethod so necessary to 
success in the business, and so often required in the details 
of military life. Under the call of the President for three 
hundred thousand men, in July, 1S63, young Hill enlisted 



191 

in the company of which Captain John A. Sheldon was 
chosen commander and Major Salisbury First Lieutenant, 
and actively engaged in the recruiting service until the com- 
pany was full. Upon the organization of the Tenth Regi- 
ment he was made Commissary Sergeant. But his desire 
that the service which he rendered to the country should be 
more intensely soldierly, and his ability really seconding this 
ambition, recommended him to the notice of Captain L. 
T. Hunt, who, upon a vacancy occurring in his command, 
sought him to fill it. He was, therefore, commissioned 
Second Lieutenant in Company H, January nineteenth, 
1863, after he had been barely three months in the service. 
June seventeenth, 1864, he was promoted a First Lieutenant 
in Company G. During the year 1863 he was aide-de-camp 
to Brigadier-General W. H. Morris, and served on his statf 
in the battles of Kelley's Ford and Locust Grove. In the 
reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, under General 
Grant, Hill returned to his company, where he became a 
very efficient officer, who was greatly respected for his sol- 
dierly and gentlemanly qualities. He fought bravely in all 
the battles where his regiment was engaged, until he fell 
seriously wounded at Winchester, September nineteenth, 
1864. 

A description of this battle, with this and all the casu- 
alties in the Tenth, has been heretofore given and need not 
be repeated. He' was wounded in the early part of the 
action, while leading a charge upon one of the enemy's bat- 
teries, and received a part of the contents of a case-shot in 
his thigh, one of the small iron balls of the missile splinter- 
ing the bone and necessitating amputation. The limb was 
taken oft' at the upper third of the thigh, and he was placed 
in the hospital at Winchester, where, under the most dili- 
gent nursing, he began to recover. He rallied so speedily, 
and apparently so surely, that his friends thought him out 
of danger a week before he died. But his wound, after all, 



IQ2 

I 

which had the appearance of healing rapidly was only deceiv- 
ing us. He was obliged to submit to a second amputation, 
which, in such cases, frequently had to be done after the 
most skillful operations in the first instance, and it so 
reduced his only partially recovered vitality that he very 
soon died. His body was borne to WalHngford, Vermont, 
where it now rests in his grave within sight of the home of 
his childhood. 

Rev. Dr. Walker, Pastor of the Congregational Church, 
preached an able discourse on the sad occasion, and a 
large concourse of people assembled to join in the solemn 
honors justly paid to the memory of the brave young sol- 
dier ! This officer possessed many qualities to be admired. 
Under age, he might have escaped military service ; but he 
"svas eager to forego the comforts of home and fair business 
prospects, to encounter the exposures of the camp, the trials 
of the march and the deadly shock of arms — thus to give up 
all and himself a victim upon his country's altar ! Such is 
the stuff that makes good soldiers. He never shrank from 
any kind of military service. Always cheerful and eager to 
be foremost in positions trying to men of larger experience, 
he never thought himself imequal to any task assigned him. 
Ever kind and considerate of the lives of his men, when no 
sacrifice was called for, he asked them to do no more, nor 
venture where he did not lead. So he fell in the fore front of 
the battle that cost the best offerings of the brave. His 
comrades will recall the erect form and the gallant bearing 
of this young soldier, and think of the sacrifice that he so 
cheerfully made, with tearful memories, while emotions of 
patriotic pride will swell the heart, when they remember 
that with their struggles, his was one of the lives that the 
Nation sought for its redemption. 



^93 



ADJUTANT READ. 

The following excellent biographical sketch of Adjutant 
Read was written by Chaplain John B. Perry, and first 
published in The Vermont Record of June tenth and 
seventeenth, 1S65. 

Adjutitnt Read, who fell in the late fight hefore Petersburg, having been 
highly esteemed as an officer, and much beloved by the regiment to which 
he belonged, is thought deserving of more than a passing notice. In view 
of these considerations, and at the suggestions of several of his surviving 
comrades in arms, the following commemorative notice has been prepared 
as a token of kindly remembrance, and is respectfully dedicated to the 
mourning friends of the deceased. 

Jamks Marsh Read, sou of Hon. David Read, was born in St. 
Albans, Vermont, November nineteenth, 1833. Having passed his earlier 
years in his native place, he removed with his tiither's family to Burling- 
ton, in November, 1839. When very young, he imbibed a taste for read- 
ing, which he never afterwards lost. He was fitted for college partly at 
the High School in his adopted town, and in part at Phillips Academy, 
Andover, Massachusetts. Doctor Taylor, the able Principal of the latter 
Institution, always gave a flattering report of James's deportment and 
scholarship, while under his tuition. 

In August, 184:9, being then in his sixteenth year, he entered the Uni- 
versity of Vermont, from which he was in due course graduated in 1853. 
While in college he stood high as a scholar ; especially was he regarded 
by his classmates as a fine linguist, and an able and accomplished writer. 
Soon after his graduation, he went to Canton, Madison County, Missis- 
sippi, where he was engaged as a teacher in a private family. He con- 
tinued to live in the South for about a year, fulfilling during this time the 
duties of an instructor. 

On his return North, he was engaged for a short period in the office of 
the New York Courier and Enquirer. While connected with this paper, 
he became intimately acquainted with a son of the commercial editor. 
Young Mr, Homans, who liad previously accompanied Major-General 
Pope, at that time Captain of the Engineer Corps, in his expedition across 
the plains of AVestern Texas and New Mexico, was about starting on a 
second expedition, which was then fitting out. Being under government 
employ, and having charge both of the Barometrical and the Astronom- 
ical Department of the expedition, he invited his friend Read to go out 
with him, and oflered to him a position as an assistant in these Depart- 
ments. Having duly considered the matter, and decided to go, Mr. Read 



194 

accepted the offer and joined the expedition, leaving New York, February 
second, 1855. On the passage out the company stopped for a few days in 
Havana, Cuba, also New Orleans, finally disembarking at Indianola, 
Texas. From the latter place they marched, under an escort of United 
States troops, to San Antonio, and thence onward to the upper waters of 
the Rio Peros. They finally encamped near the stream in the south- 
easterly angle of New Mexico, which they made their headquarters for 
about three years and a half. 

After the lapse of some twelve months, Mr. Homans receiving a 
lucrative appointment in New York, returned to that city. Mr. Read 
was at once appointed his successor, all eyes turning to him as adapted to 
fill the vacancy. His mathematical attainments, and acquaintance with 
the physical sciences, fitted him well for the position, and made his services 
an invaluable help to the expedition. During their stay in this region, the 
experiment of sinking artesian wells was tried upon the La Lano Estuado, 
or staked plains ; though according to my present recollection, with indif- 
ferent success. 

Various expeditions were also frequently planned, and detachments 
sent out, for exploration in Central New Mexico, upon the Guadaloupe 
Mountains, and the extended desert plains lying to the east of their 
encampment. These exploring expeditions were usually joined by young 
Read. While they ofi'ered him a fine opportunity for observation, and 
the study of the Natural History of the country, he no doubt rendered 
efficient aid to the parties he accompanied, by his own contributions. 
That he made excellent use of these means for improvement, is evident to 
the writer, from an essay which he heard him read some years later, on 
the Botany of New Mexico as compared with that of Colchester Plains. 
His powers of observation were unusually good ; they were increased in 
strength and aptitude by the habit which he then formed of noting con- 
tinually what fell under his eye, especially if it related to the physical 
features of the regions through which he passed. 

These exploring expeditions were often attended with extreme hard- 
ships and peril ; and sometimes they were checked with a bit of romance. 
This was particularly the case in one instance recounted by Mr. Read. 
Striking castwardjy across the desert, the party, consisting ot four besides 
himself, all mounted on mules, came near perishing for want of drink. 
One man and his mule gave out. Leaving him, the rest pressed on in 
search of water. Having at length come to some pools in the desert, men 
and animals plunged into them indiscriminately, and slaked their thirst. 
Then, filling their canteens, they hastened back with a view to rescue their 
perishing comrade, who had been left about twenty-five miles in the rear. 
They soon met his mule on the way, and at last reached the man himself 
before life was extinct. Having given him water and food they took him 
safely back to the just discovered pools. 

Mr. Read passed the winter of 1857 in Washington. While there, he 
was busily engaged assisting in the preparation of the Report of the Expe- 



195 

ditlon for the Secretary of War. Sometime during the following spring 
he returned to the plains of New Mexico, and continued his labors in that 
region until the close of the expedition. Not far from this time — I believe 
it was while he was at work in Washington on the report already referred 
to — with a view to the more accurate presentation of the results of the 
explorations, as well as to the better prosecution of future investigations, 
he was sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Captain Pope, to consult 
Professor Bond of Harvard University, on some intricate questions relat- 
ing to the scieutitic observations of the expedition. He was about tlie 
same time in correspondence with Professor, afterwards General, 0. M. 
Mitchell of Cincinnati Observatory, and Professor Young of Dartmouth 
College ; also, on other occasions, with Professors at West Point, and 
gentlemen connected with the Smithsonian Institute. He was likewise 
applied to from time to time, as appears from letters which he left on file, 
for information on a variety of scientific subjects. 

After the close of the expedition, he maintained for several yeai's a 
friendly correspondence with General Pope, who, it seems, had a generous 
appreciation of his services, and entertained a high opinion of his ability, 
and towards whom the subject of this notice ever after cherished a warm 
friendship and great kindliness of feeling. The expedition having come 
to a close in the autumn of 1858, Mr. Read returned to his father's. For 
the greater part of the next two years he remained at home. At this time 
he was for the most part engaged in study and in collecting specimens in 
Natural History. He was also, as I am informed, more or less occupied in 
writing for the journals of the day. 

During the autumn of 1860 and the following winter he was employed 
by E. M. Smalley, Esq., as an assistant in the editorial department of the 
Burlington Sentinel, It is said that the readers of that paper were 
indebted for some of its best contributions, during this period, to Mr. 
Read. The time which Mr. Read thus spent at home and in writing, was 
perhaps one of the richest in the fruits of culture which it bore of his life. 
Having leisure both for meditation and intercourse with refined society, he 
probably made great improvement, as well intellectually as in the cultiva- 
tion of his social powers. As his memory was very retentive, he no 
doubt at this time laid up a vast amount of useful knowledge. He seemed 
to grasp and keep whatever he read. But this was not all ; he seized hold 
of principles with more readiness than most. That he thus improved is 
evident from the fact that those persons who engaged in conversation with 
him, were often surprised at the readiness with which he would recall 
what he had previously learned, or the contents of the books he had 
perused. And to this we should add that he was not merely conversant 
with a few topics, but was found to be unusually well informed for one of 
his age, on almost every subject. 

On the breaking out of the rebellion, and the issue of the President's 
call for seventy-five thousand men in 1861, Mr. Read enlisted for three 
months as private in the Howard Guards. This was the first company 



196 

raised in Burlington, and formed a part of tlie First Eegiment of Ver- 
mont Volunteers. On the ninth of Muy he left with his companions for the 
front, and served in faithfulness his full term of service. Being present at 
the battle of Big Bethel, which occurred June tenth, he barely escaped 
with his life, a round shot from the enemy's batteries shivering a tree just 
above his head. On the retreat of our men, which followed the same 
battle, he (beyond all i-easonable doubt) saved a fellow soldier from falling 
into the hands of the Confederate cavalry. Herman Seligan, then a private, 
but now Captain of Company C, of the Ninth Vermont Regiment, 
became greatly ftitigued, and fell by the wayside. Mr. Read took the gun, 
haversack, and other equipments of his exhausted companion, and carried 
them, in addition to his own, through to Fortress Monroe. In thus reliev- 
ing his brother in arms, he animated him with hope and courage by which 
he was enabled to pass on to the Fortress, which they safely reached in 
company late at night. 

After the close of his three months' service, Mr. Read returned home 
and remained there until the President's second call for three hundred 
thousand men. At this crisis he felt constrained again to volunteer in 
defence of his country. Accordingly, July thirty-first, 1862, he re-enlisted 
as a private soldier for three years, and on the first of the following Sep- 
tember he was mustered into the United States service, in Company D, of 
the Tenth Vermont Regiment. Having been appointed Sergeant at once, 
on the organization of his company, he served for some time in this 
capacity. He also, for a while, performed the duties of First Sergeant. 
To Captain Darrah, who then commanded Company D, he was of great 
assistance by his performance of a variety of clerical labors, in addition to 
the appropriate services of his position as Sergeant. During the summer 
of 1863, he was detailed for duty as Clerk in the Adjutant-General's office, 
at the Headquarters of the Division. On assuming this position, he soon 
became conspicuous to a very unusual degree, considering the opportunities 
which his subordinate grade aflbrded, in the management of all matters 
pertaining to the oflice. He directed the labors of some five or six clerks 
who were under him, and had the sole charge and supervision, as well of 
the entire routine duties of the oflice, as frequently of important special 
duties, and of all its books and records. The latter were kept, under his 
direction, in so elegant and elaborate a manner as to elicit the admiration 
and praise of all who saw them. 

Indeed, while he was at Division Headquarters, his labors in these 
particulars were looked upon as almost invaluable. And these were not 
all the services which he performed. Both in tlie field, along the nmrch, 
and on the line of battle, he usually noted the position of the troops, 
the face of the country, and whatever he thought deserving of record. 
This he had learned to do when out with General Pope. Accordingly, in 
making out their reports, the officers often resorted to his notes and 
usually placed implicit reliance upon them. In fact, his minutes and 
observations were regarded and appealed to, as authority, not only 



197 

throughout his regiment, but also at tlie Brigade and Division Headquar- 
ters, While in the performance of these various services, he, of course, 
became well acquainted with Brigadier-General Carr, and also with 
Brigadier-General Ricketts, who succeeded the former in the command of 
the division. It is said that these commanders made constant use of Mr. 
Eead's acquirements. By them he was also frequently spoken of as (jual- 
ified for any staff-duty. Both of these Generals, as I am informed, and 
other olficers of rank, had a high appreciation of his industry and ability, 
as well as of his fine social qualities. Indeed, it is said that General 
Ricketts of his own accord promised that he should have an appointment 
as Aid ou his staff, on the next occun-ence of a vacancy. 

He thus served, and continued to act, faithfully as anon-commissioned 
officer until he entered upon the duties of Second Lieutenant, in Company 
D, of the Tenth Vermont Volunteers. He was mustered in, August 
tenth, 1864, his commission bearing date June seventeenth of the same 
year. This advancement, though coming, in the opinion of most of his 
friends, very late, was by them all regarded as well deserved. No sooner 
was he promoted to the Lieutenancy than he was, at his own request, 
relieved from his arduous duties at headquarters, that he might rejoin his 
regiment. In his new position of line officer he showed the same capacity 
and the same power of adaptation, that he had previously exhibited under 
other relations. But it was now in a higher sphere. From this time 
forward he displayed fine ability, not only in the discharge of the ordinary 
duties of the grade he sustained in his own company, but also in taking 
upon himself at different times the combined charge and responsibility of 
various companies when the regiment had become reduced in the comple- 
ment of its line officers by the casualties of the service. His industry 
and zeal in the performance of all these labors, his knowledge of military 
affairs, as well as his courage and coolness in action, were remarkable, and 
probably unequaled by any other member of the regiment to which he 
belonged. December nineteenth, 1864, another commission was issued in 
his favor. By virtue of it, he was duly promoted to the First Lieutenancy 
in Company E, of the same regiment, on the sixth of February, 1865. 
This renewed recognitrou of his merits, like his preceding advancement, 
was generally regarded as faithfully earned and richly deserved. 

Adjutant Lyman having been wounded at Cedar Creek, October nine- 
teenth. Lieutenant Read was detailed on the same day to act in his place. 
On the subsequent promotion of Adjutant Lyman to the Majorate, the 
subject of this notice was mustered in as Adjutant, February twenty- 
fourth, 1865, his commission bearing the date of the second of the preced- 
ing month. As thus promoted he entered afresh upon the labors of the 
Adjutancy, and engaged in them with all the alacrity and vigor for which 
he was distinguished. It is hardly too much to say that he met the respon- 
sibilities of his new position with tireless energy and unfailing skill, con- 
ducting all its wearisome and fatiguing details with comi)arative ease 
and, according to the testimony of his predecessor, dispatching more work 



198 

during the six weeks he held this grade, than is ordinarily done in as many 
months. 

Having thus noticed the more prominent points in Adjutant Read's 
military career, it may be well to refer briefly to the main actions in 
which he figured. During his service in the army, and subsequent to the 
fight at Big Bethel, with which he had to do, he was in many diflferent con- 
flicts. Indeed, he was present at, or in some wise connected with, most 
of the battles in which his regiment was engaged; and it is said that in 
every instance he evinced a prudence, skill, and valor becoming the posi- 
tion he occupied. 

He had some part in the spirited encounter at Kelly's Ford, November 
seventh, 1863, when the Confederate rifle-pits, eighty prisoners, and six 
hundred Enfield rifles, were taken. November eighth found him in the 
skirmishing which came oflf at Brandy Station, on the south side of the 
Rappahannock. On the twenty-seventh of November he was at Locust 
Grove, and participated actively in the severe fighting which then and 
there prevailed, securing the repulse of the enemy. He was also present 
at the battle of Mine Run, November eighteenth, his division acting as a 
support to the Fifth Corps. 

On the opening of the spring compaign, in 1864, he was as usual at his 
post. From the diary which he kept while at headquarters, and in which 
he noted all the more important movements of the division to which he 
belonged, it is evident that he was in the various battles of the "Wilder- 
ness in which his division was engaged, from May fifth to the eleventh, 
inclusive ; that he was also in those of Spottsylvania, during the succeed- 
ing nine days up to the twenty-first; that he was likewise in the skirmish 
at Tolopotomy Creek, sometimes known as that of Gaines's Mills, May 
thirtieth and thirty-first; as well as in the severe fighting and amidst tlie 
dreadful carnage which occun-ed at Cold Harbor, Irom the first to the 
twelfth of June. 

"We next find him, pencil in hand, exposed to the severe shelling which 
occurred at Bermuda Hundreds, June nineteenth; and again on the twenty- 
second and twenty-third of the same month, in the hard fighting and 
under the scathing fire before Petersburg. July ninth he was in the con- 
flict which took place, and the rebuflf which was experienced, on the 
Monocacy. In the brilliant engagement which came ofi" September nine- 
teenth, and is commonly known as the battle of Opequan, at "Winchester, 
he appeai'ed in the new capacity of a Lieutenant. On this occasion he had 
charge of a skirmish line, performing a very hazardous and important 
service. A bullet struck his sword and glanced off; thus his life was 
saved. On the twenty-second of the same month he was present at, and 
took an active part in, the memorable fight at Fisher's Hill. 

In the battle of Cedar Creek, which occurred October nineteenth. Lieu- 
tenant Read had charge of the color company. His command being at 
first repulsed, and forced to withdraw, he endeavored to preserve the line 
unbroken, and was the rearmost man in retiring. "While thus fearlessly 



199 

engaged in securing an orderly retreat, he was also, as usual, busily 
occupied, compass in hand, observing the various movements, and taking 
note of what was passing. Seeing his men moving hastily from the battle 
gi-ound in his advance, and himself likely to be left in the rear, sketching 
an outline of the battle, he said, as the bullets were whizzing by: "Be 
cool, boys; don't hurry; it's no time for haste; I'm going fast enough." 
As he was afterwards advancing, a spent bullet hit the calf of his leg and 
bruised it considerably. Upon this he exclaimed: "I'm hit, boys, but it 
isn't much : let us on." Although suflering not a little pain, he refused to 
leave the field, and continued with his men through the day. During the 
following winter he was absent a few weeks on leave. lie then visited 
his home, sought recreation in social pleasures, had early recollections- 
revived, and enjoyed many pleasant chats with old friends and associates. 
Soon, however, he was back again with his regiment, which was at that 
time lying before Petersburg, in the vicinity of Warren Station. lie 
wished to be with his companions, engaged in getting ready for the 
approaching compaign. 

Shortly after this, and wiiile the troops were still in camp, the writer 
of this memorial met Adjutant Read for the first time since the beginning 
of the war. During the few weeks that followed, before active operations 
commenced, he had several interesting interviews with Mr. Read, who 
spoke of by-gone days, of experiences in the army, and of his present 
duties and studies. 

But anon the campaign opened in earnest — and it was more than a 
month earlier than that of the preceding spring — and this brings us to the 
closing scenes in the life of Adjutant Read. After the fighting of March 
twenty-fifth, it was decided that there should be an early eftbrt to break 
the rebel lines. This was to be made, in part, by Brigadier-General Sey- 
mour's division of the Sixth Corps. With this end in view, a movement 
was initiated on the night of April first, and brought during the following 
day to a glorious issue, in which the Tenth Vermont largely participated. 
The troops moved out a little before midnight, and formed in front of Fort 
Welch, which lies to the southwest of Petersburg, and on the left of Fort 
Fisher. At about four o'clock on the morning of the second, they made 
their first charge and were successful. They advanced, both ofticers and 
men being on foot, athwart dense abatis, through tlie mud and water of 
deep trenches, over immense earthworks, and made themselves masters of 
a redoubt which had formed part of the rebel line in their front Then, 
wheeling to the left, they took another redoubt, and still another. It was 
between seven and eight o'clock in the morning— after the capture of the 
third work, and in the vigorous attempt made to hold it— that the Adju- 
tant fell, struck in the heel by a ball which passed through his right foot. 
Upon the reception of this wound he was immediately placed in a log- 
cabin which chanced to stand near by. Our men being soon compelled to 
fall back for a season, the rebels entered the cabin, seized the Adjutant, 
rifled his pockets of his money, watch and the like, and took from him his 



200 



sword and belt, "but otberwise," as he said afterwards, "treated him well 
enough." At the loss of his sword he felt, and subsequently expressed, 
especial regret, as it bore the marks of a bullet by which it was indented 
in the fight at Winchester. Our forces again advancing, he was retaken, 
the Confederates not having time to remove him ; and thence he was con- 
veyed in an ambulance to the division hospital, where he suiiei-ed the loss 
of his foot by amputation just above the ankle joint. 

The assault made on the morning of the second required in all, and 
especially in the officers, great energy and coolness, no less than real 
bravery and firm persistency of eflbrt. It was well known to the men 
generally, that the Confederate works were on well-chosen ground, of 
elaborate construction, and of vast strength. It was also supposed that 
they could never be taken without immense effusion of blood and great 
sacrifice of life. Then, again, it was the trial time long looked forward to 
with hope, and constantly kept in view with ever growing interest, as the 
gigantic preparations had been steadily pushed forward with unabating 
zeal. It was, so to speak, the pivot on which, if all went right, the suc- 
cessful issue of the war seemed about to turn. Under these circumstances 
it is no wonder that the men were burdened with anxiety, and that they 
marched out full of trembling solicitude, and with hesitating steps. So it 
is not a matter for surprise that the officers felt that a double burden 
rested upon themselves. But the Adjutant, as was the case with many 
others, seemed to rise with the emergency and to be equal to it. Making 
ready for the exigencies of the occasion, he was most assiduous in his own 
special field duty. He exerted himself more, as many have remarked, 
and showed far greater efficiency than usual in bearing dispatches, in 
rallying the faint-hearted, and urging all onward to victory. And in the 
entire action, as I am Informed, he united dash with his characteristic 
coolness and steadiness, falling at the extreme front, at the most critical 
moment of the day, disabled by a wound, from the efl'ects of which he 
afterwards died. 

And here it may be proper to refer to the feelings which the Adjutant 
experienced in view of the loss of his foot, and of the results of the vic- 
toi'y won. They will be best expressed in his own words, taken from a 
letter, probably his last, which was written on Monday, April third, while 
he was in the hospital near Warren Station. The letter was found in his 
pocket-book, which, with his other eftects, was sent home after his death. 
He wrote substantially as follows : " Dearest Father and Mother : We had 
a glorious day yesterday ; captured thousands and thousands of prisoners. 
We charged and took the strong lines of the enemy, on which he depended 
to hold Petersburg, and we took all his artillery. It was a second 
Fisher's Hill, only far more glorious and important a victory." Again, 
sending a message to his sister, he says in the same missive, " Give her 
my dearest love, and tell her that yesterday's work fully pays us all for 
what we have lost. I can give my foot in such a cause with a good will." 

The writer having returned from the front to Warren Station early 



20I 



Monday morning, saw the Adjutant six or eight times during the day, and 
endeavored to do all in his power to make him comfortable and alleviate 
his suffering, which at times was intense. His loss of blood had been 
small. Most of the preceding night he was able to sleep. His stump was 
not swollen and seemed to be doing well. All things considered, he 
appeared to be in an unusually good condition. It should, however, be 
added that he had been previously somewhat weakened by a severe affec- 
tion of the bowels, and was still suffering considerably from it. On his 
being taken to the cars there was a delay of several hours, which, with his 
sulisequent ride, no doubt increased his weakness. He was furnished 
with a good supply of coffee and food. His lassitude being observed, a 
stimulating drink was also prepared for him, which he was indisposed to 
take. As the writer was unal>le in person to accompany the Adjutant on 
the train, on account of the great nuuiber of wounded men constantly 
arriving, he secured the services of the best man he could find, who 
agreed to look after him carefully by the way, to see him safe in the 
General Hospital at the Base, and report when the cars returned next 
morning. 

A visit being made to City Point on Wednesday, April fifth, the Adju- 
tant was at once looked up, and found to be in a more critical condition. 
According to the Surgeon-in-Chief, his system had never experienced a 
full reaction, and thus had failed to recover its tone since the amputation. 
Appearances seemed to indicate that tliere had been adequate nursing, and 
all due exercise of medical skill. During the aftei'noon and evening the 
writer was in to see the Adjutant four or five times, and did all he could 
to make him comfortable, not supposing for a moment that he would 
reach his earthly end for days, or even for several weeks. Under these 
circumstances it is more easy to imagine than to express the surprise he 
experienced on going into the hospital the next morning, and learning 
that at twelve o'clock the preceding night, which was that of April 
fifth. Adjutant Read breathed his last. His body was embalmed and 
sent to Burlington. It arrived there safely in a good state of preservation 
on Tuesday, April eleventh. The funeral took place on the afternoon of 
Friday, the fourteenth,-— an eventful day, and not soon to be forgotten by 
the family of the deceased or by the people of the United States. Yes, 
even in the annals of our country, it will long stand memorable at once 
for the restoration of the Union flag to Fort Sumter, and for the awful 
tragedy enacted at Washington, which deprived the nation of its honored 
dead. On this red-lettered day in connection with appropriate exercises, 
the remains of Adjutant Read were duly deposited in the family burial 
l)lace, by the side of those of a departed brother and sister, amid the tears 
of his dearest surviving friends and the silent tokens of the sympathy and 
heartfelt sorrow of the citizens of his adopted town. 

Thus Adjutant Read has passed away, his removal adding another to 
the large number of sad casualties connected with the closing scenes of the 
great rebellion. And in view of the event this hasty memorial has been 
14 



202 



prepared, the aim being neither to praise nor to blame, but to weave 
together the more prominent incidents of his life, and to give as correct a 
transcript as possible of the estimate. in which he was held by his com- 
panions in arms. That he had faults and deficiencies none would be 
disposed to deny ; that he also possessed marked excellences, botii 
natural and acquired, all are ready to acknowledge. As to the general 
correctness of his religious opinions and sentiments no one acquainted 
with his early training, who ever talked with him on divine realities, need 
have a doubt. Respecting his personal experience in relation to God and 
eternity, the conversation had with him was while he was in pain, and the 
data furnished are too inadequate to authorize much definiteness of state- 
ment. Of his character and general bearing, his regiment speak with 
uniform commendation. 

In his early departure we accordingly have occasion for unfeigned 
grief. A young man is cut down who is deeply mourned by surviving 
compatriots who have known him at home, by the fireside, in the camp 
and on the battlefield. That he was beloved in the army, no one need have 
better assurance than the writer. It was his fortune to bear the tidings of 
the Adjutant's untimely death to many of his regiment, thus to witness 
the deep emotion they evinced, and to gather evidence of the strong 
attachment which bound them to the departed. Indeed, one has been 
taken who could ill be spared ; one whose powers of observation were 
superior, whose coolness and intrepidity are not often surpassed, and who 
was regarded as by far the best office man in the regiment. When the 
news of his death came there was a general feeling that in the latter par- 
ticular no one left could make good his place. His true position, as his 
friends have well observed, was that of a staft' officer. For this he was 
fitted by his native bent and by long training ; he was exact and had an 
aptness for the investigation of minutiae ; while his working capacity was 
of a marked kind. With more than ordinary insight into principles, and 
the clear foresight which pertains to their distinct apprehension, he united 
a remarkable accuracy in particulars, and a willingness to delve in the 
investigation of those minor details which is often very irksome to other- 
wise superior minds. This union in him of these two opposite tendencies 
kept his mind clear and free from confusion. In fact few persons of as 
high intellectual power are so ready as was he to undergo the drudgery of 
the Adjutant's Office, and few succeed so well in the fulfilment of its duties. 
More than this, however, it should be borne in mind that the vicissitudes of 
war have taken from us a man of fine social qualities, of refined literary 
taste, and for one so j'oung, of high scholarly attainments. Of these latter 
points no more can now be said for lack of time and of materials necessary 
to an adequate estimate. 

But last though not least, in the death of the departed the army has 
experienced the loss of a skilliul tactician and an intrepid soldier. He 
was more than ordinarily well read in the science of war, and able to 
bring his knowledge to bear with practical efficiency. Says a companion in 



203 

arms : " Taken all in all, Adjutant Read was a brave and efficient officer, 
filling every position to which he was assigned, witli fidelity, credit and 
skill." But not merely as an officer was he deserving of praise ; he was 
equally, perhaps more, conversant with the duties and trials of tlic private 
soldier. Through the larger portion of his army experience lie was with- 
out a commission. Thus, during the progress of the war he saw much 
active and hard service, and under a variety of circumstances. Like every 
other true man in the field he was exposed to many and frequent dangers ; 
but for the most part he was remarkably fortunate ; although his garments 
were occasionally rent by flying missiles which carry ruin in their train, he 
almost entirely escaped harm and remained without a scar. 

Finally, however, he received the fatal stroke which has forever removed 
him from our mortal sight. Although he passed through mauy dangers 
unscathed, he has at last fallen. He is now cut down in his early prime, 
and just as a triumphant people is preparing to enjoy the fruits of a dearly 
bought and long wished peace. And as we think of his premature death, 
sorrow surges in our souls. Indeed, how can it well be otherwise ? In his 
departure, we — his kindred and acquaintances generally — experience the 
loss of a genial companion ; one who to good native ability added rare 
industry, fine culture and a high promise, accompanied by an assurance of 
hope that if his life were spared he would prove an honor to his friends, 
an adornment to his country, and render important aid to his day and 
generation. Yes, he is gone, offered as a sacrifice on the altar of his 
country ; but, though he be gone, he yet lives — his memory is ft-eshly 
embalmed, is warmly cherished, and v/ill long continue to flourish — in the 
hearts of many surviving friends. 



APPENDIX 



EOLL AND EOSTEE OF THE TENTH EEGIMENT 
VEEMONT VOLUNTEEES, 

Mustered into the TJ. S. Service Sept. 1, 18G-2. 



OFFICERS. 

COLONELS. 

Albert B. Jewett. Resigned April 25, 1864. 

William W. Henry. Major Aug. 26, 1862. Lieut. Col. Oct. 17," 1862. 
Wounded June 1st, 1861. Resigned Dec. 17, 1864. Brevet Brig. Gen. March 
7, 1865. 

George B. Damon. Capt. Co. G, Aug. 12, 1862. Brevet Major Oct. 19, 
1864, for gallantry at Opequan and Cedar Creek, Va. Major Dec. 19, 1864. 
Lieut. Col. Jan. 2, 1865. Brevet Col. April 2, 1865, for gallantry before 
Petersburg, Va. Mustered out of service as Lieut. Col. June 28, 1865. 

lieutenant-colonels. 
John H. Edson. Resigned Oct. 16, 1862. 
William W. Henry. Promoted Col. April 26, 1864. 
Charles G. Chandler. 

George B. Damon. Promoted Col. June 15, 1865. 
Wyllys Lyman. Adjutant Aug. 8, 1862. Wounded severely Oct. 19, 
1864. Major Jan. 2, 1865. Mustered out of service as Major June 28, 1865. 

MAJORS. 

William W. Henry. Promoted Lieut. Col. Oct. 17, 1862. 
Charles G. Chandler. Promoted Lieut. Col. April 26, 1864. 
Edwin Dillingham. Capt. Co. B, Aug. 4, 1862. Killed at Winchester, 
Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 



2o6 



Lucius T. Hunt. Capt. Co. H, Aug. 8, 1862. Wounded June 3, 1864. 
Honorably discharged as Capt. Dec. 1, 1864, for disability. 

George B. Damon. Promoted Lieut. Col. Jan. 2, 1865. 

Wyllys Lyman. Promoted Lieut. Col. June 15, 1865. 

John A. Salisbury. 1st Lieut. Co. C, Aug. 5, 1862. Capt. Co.I, Nov. 
8, 1862. Brevet Major Oct. 19, 1864, for gallantry befoi-e Richmond and in 
the Shenandoah Valley. Mustered out of service as Capt. Co. I, June 22, 
1865. 

ADJUTANTS. 

Wyllys Lyman. Promoted Major Jan. 2, 1865. 

James M. Read. Private Co. D, July 31, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
2d Lieut. Co. D, June 17, 1864. Wounded Oct. 19, 1864. 1st Lieut. Co. E, 
Dec. 19, 1864. Brevet Capt. April 2, 1865, for gallantry in the assault on 
Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865. Died April 6, 1865, of wounds received in 
action April 2 , 1865. 

George P. Welch. Mustered out of service June 28, 1865. 

QUARTERMASTERS. 

Alonzo B. Valentine. Promoted Capt. and Com. of Subsistence, U. S. 
Vols., March 2, 1864. 

Charles H. Reynolds. Private Co. I, Aug. 5, 1862. Reg. Qr. M. Sergt. 
Jan. 1, 1863. Promoted Capt. and A. Q. M., U. S. Vols., Dec. 12, 1864. 

Charles W. Wheeler. Private Co. I, Aug. 5, 1862. Corporal Jan. 3, 
1863. 1st Sergeant July 4, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. I, Aug. 9, 1864. Wounded 
Oct. 19, 1864. 1st Lieut. Co. K, Feb. 9, 1865. Mustered out of service 
June 28, 1865. 

SURGEON. 

Willard A. Child. Asst. Surgeon 4th Vt. Vols., Aug. 15, 1861. Mus- 
tered out of service June 22, 1865. 

ASSISTANT SURGEONS. 

Joseph C. Rutherford. Promoted Surgeon 17th Vt. Vols., March 6, 
1865. 

Almon Clark. Promoted Surgeon 1st Vt. Cavalry, March 6, 1865. 

CHAPLAINS. 

Edwin M. Haynes. Resigned Oct. 9, 1864. 

John B. Perry. Mustered out of service July 7, 1865. 

CAPTAINS. 

Edwin B. Frost. Killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864. 

Henry H. Dewey. 1st Lieut. Co. A, July 7, 1862. Mustered out of 
service June 22, 1865. 

Edwin Dillingham. Promoted Major June 17, 1864. 

Merritt Barber. 1st Lieut. Co. E, Aug. 7, 1862. Appointed Capt. and 
A. A. G., U. S. Vols., Dec. 31, 1864. Brevet Major Oct. 19, 1864, for gal- 



207 

lantry in every action since May 5, 1SG4, and particularly at Cedar Creek, 
Va./Oct. 19, 186i. 

Daniel Foster, Private Co. B, July 14, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1S02. 2d 
Lieut. Co. B, June 6, 1864. Wounded Sept. 19, 1864. 1st Lieut. Co. B, 
Dec. 19, 18G4. Mustered out of service June 29, 1865. 

John A. Sheldon. Promoted Capt. and Com. Subsistence, U. S. Vols., 
June 28, 1864. 

Eufus K. Tabor. 2d Lieut. Co. K, Aug. 12, 1862. 1st Lieut. Co. A, 
June 6, 1864. Mustered out of service June 29, 1865. 

Giles F. Appleton. Kesigned Jan. 26, 1863. 

Samuel Darrah. 1st Lieut. Co. D, Aug. 5, 1862. Killed near Cold 
Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864. 

Lucian D. Thompson. 2d Lieut. Co, B, Aug. 4, 1862. 1st Lieut. Co, 
G, Dec, 27, 1862. Killed at Cedar Creek, Va,, Oct, 19, 1864. 

George E, Davis, 2d Lieut, Co. D, Aug, 5, 1862, 1st Lieut. Co. D, 
Jan. 26, 1863. Wounded Sept. 19, 1864, and Oct, 19, 1864, Mustered out 
of service June 22, 1865, 

Madison E. Winslow. Resigned Dec. 25, 1862. 

Pearl D. Blodgett. 1st Lieut. Co. G, Aug. 12, 1862, Wounded severely, 
June 1, 1864, Honorably discharged Nov. 22, 1864, for wounds. 

John A. Hicks, Jr. Sergt. Maj. Sept. 1, 18S2. 2a Lieut. Co. B, Dee, 
27, 1862, 1st Lieut. Co. B, June 6, 1864. Honorably discharged May 2, 
1865, for disability. 

Henry G. Stiles, Private Co. H, Aug, 6, 1862. 1st Sergeant Sept, 1, 
1862. Sergt. Major March 24, 1864. 2d Lieut, Co, G, June 6, 1864, 
Prisoner from June 1, 1864, to Nov, 19, 1864, 1st Lieut, Co, E, Feb, 9, 
1865. Mustered out of service, June 29, 1865. 

Hiram Piatt. Resigned April 1, 1864, 

Chester F, Nye, 1st Lieut. Co. F, Aug. 6, 1862, Wounded Oct, 19, 
1864. Discharged Dec. 27, 1864, for wounds. 

Henry W. Kingsley, Reg, Qr. Mr, Sergt, Sept, 1, 1862. 2d Lieut, Co, 
F, Dec, 27, 1862, Wounded severely Nov. 27, 1863. 1st Lieut. Co, F, 
June 6. 1864. Appointed Captain and Cora, of Subsistence, U, S. A^ols,, 
Jan, 23, 1865. 

James S, Thompson, Private Co. A, May 30, 1862, 1st Sergt. Sept. 1, 
1862. 2d Lieut. Co. A, Jan. 19, 1863. 1st Lieut. Co..H, Nov. 2, 1864. 
Wounded April 2, 1865. Mustered out of service June 29, 1865, 

George B, Damon, Promoted Major Dec. 19, 1864. 

Lemuel A, Abbott, Private Co, B, July 28, 1862. 1st Sergt, Sept, 1, 
1862. 2d Lieut. Co. D, Jan, 26, 1863, 1st Lieut, Co. E, June 17, 1864, 
Wounded severely Sept. 19, 1864. Mustered out of service June 22, 1865. 

Lucius T, Huut, Promoted 3Iajor Nov, 2, 1864, 

Salmon E. Perham. 2d Lieut. Co. H, Aug. 8, 1862. 1st Lieut, Co, H, 
Jan, 19, 1863. Mustered out of service June 22, 1865, 
Charles G, Chandler, Promoted Major Oct. 17, 1862. 
John A. Salisbury, Promoted Major June 15, 1865, 



2o8 



William White. Private Co. I, Aug. 9, 1862, Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 1st 
Sergt. Dec. 5, 1862. 2d Lieut. Co. I, April 2, 1864. 1st Lieut. Co. I, Aug. 
9, 1864. Wounded June 1, 1864, and Oct. 19, 1864. Mustered out of 
service as 1st Lieut. June 22, 1865. 

Hiram R. Steele. Wounded May 12, 1864. Appointed Capt. and Com. 
Subsistence, U. S. Vols., May 18, 1864. 

Alexander W. Chilton. 2d Lieut. Co. F, Aug. 6, 1862. 1st Lieut. Co. 
I, Dec. 27, 1862. Mustered out of service June 22, 1865. 

FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 

Henry H. Dewey. Promoted Capt. Co. A, June 6, 1864. 

Rufus K. Tabor. Promoted Capt. Co. C, March 22, 1865. 

William R. Hoyt. Private Co. I, Sept. 23, 1863. Corp. Feb. 26, 1864. 
Sergt. Aug. 31, 1864. Sergt. Major Feb. 9, 1865. 2d Lieut. Co. C, Feb. 
9, 1865. Mustered out of service June 29, 1865. 

Ezra Stetson. Killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864. 

John A. Hicks, Jr. Promoted Capt. Co. E, Dec. 19, 1864. 

Daniel Foster. Promoted Capt. Co, B, March 22, 1865. 

Edward J. Stickney, Private Co, B, July 30, 1862, Corp, Sept. 1, 
1862. Sergt. March 27, 1864. 1st Sergt. Sept. 1, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. B, 
Dec. 19, 1864. Mu^itered out of service June 29, 1865. 

John A. Salisbury. Promoted Capt. Co. I, Nov. 8, 1862. 

William H. H. Sabin. 2d Lieut. Co. C, Aug. 5, 1862. Resigned Jan. 
19, 1863. 

Charles D. Bogue. Private Co. I, July 14, 1862, 1st Sergt. Sept. 1, 
1862. 2d Lieut. Co. C, Nov. 8, 1862. Mustered out of service June 22, 
1865. 

Isaac L. Powers. Private Co. A, June 9, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
1st Sergt. Jan. 19, 1863. Wounded June 3, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. H, June 
1864. Mustered out of service as 1st Sergt. Co. A, June 22, 1865. 

Samuel Darrah. Promoted Capt. Co. D, Jan. 26, 1863. 

George E. Davis. Promoted Capt. Co. D, Nov. 2, 1864. 

Silas H. Lewis, Jr. Private Co. I, July 23, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
1st Sergt. June 1, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. F, June 6, 1864. Brevet Capt. 
April 2, 1865, for gallantry in the assault on Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865. 
Mustered out of service June 22, 1865. 

Merritt Barber. Promoted Capt. Co. B, June 17, 1864. 

Lemuel A. Abbott. Promoted Capt. Co. G, Dec. 19, 1864. 

James M. Read. Promoted Adjutant Jan. 2, 1865. 

Henry G. Stiles. Promoted Capt. Co. E, May 11, 1865. 

Ezekiel T. Johnson. Private Co. H, Aug. 6, 1862. Corp. Sept. 1, 1862. 
Sergt. Dec. 28, 1862. Wounded July 9, 1864. 1st Sergt. 2d Lieut. Co. E, 
Dec. 19, 1864. 1st Lieut. Co. G, March 22, 1865. Ti-ansferred to Co. E, 
May 20, 1865. Mustered out of service as 1st Serg. Co. H, June 22, 1865. 

Chester F. Nye. Promoted Capt. Co. F, June 6, 1864. 

Henry W. Kingsley. Promoted Capt. Co. F, Feb. 9, 1865. 



209 

Samuel Greer. Private Co. C, Aug. 5. 1862. Corp. Sept. 2.j, 1SC3. 
Sergt. JuJT -io, 1S04. Wouuded Oct. 19, 1SG4. 2d Lieut. Co. C, Dec. 19, 
1801. Mustered out of service June 22, 1865. 

Pearl D. Blodgett. Promoted Capt. Co. E, Dec. 27, 1862. 
Lucian D. Thompson. Promoted Capt. Co, D, June 17, 1864. 
Daniel G. Hill. Reg. Com. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 2d Lieut. Co. H, Jan. 
19, 1863. Died of wounds received at Opequan, Va., Sept. 19, 1861. 

' Edward P. Farr. Private Co. G, Aug. 8, 1862, 1st Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
2d Lieut. Co. E, Jan. 19, 1863. Promoted Capt. and A. Q. 31., U.S. 
Yols., March 6, 1865. 

Ezekiel T. Johnson. Transferred to Co. E, May 20, 1865. 
Almon Ingram. Private Co. G, July 25, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
1st Sergt. Oct. 11, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. G, Feb. 9, 1865. Mustered out of 
service as 2d Lieut. June 22, 1865. 

Jerome C. Dow. Resigned Jan. 5, 1863. 
Salmon E. Perham. Promoted Capt. Co. H, Nov. 2, 1864. 
James S. Tliompsou. Promoted Capt. Co. F, March 22, 1865. 
Artemas H. Wheeler. Private Co. H, Aug. 7, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 
1862. 1st Sergt. April 3, 1864. 2d Lieut. Co. D, Dec. 19, 1864. Mustered 
out of service June 29, 1865. 

Charles M. Start. Resigned Dec. 5, 1862. 
Alexander W. Chilton. Promoted Capt. Co. K, Aug. 9, 1864. 
William White. Promoted Capt. Co. I, June 15, 1865. 
Darwin K. Gilson. Private Co. I, July 23, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
1st Sergt. Feb. 26, 1865. 2d Lieut. Co. I, Feb. 9, 1865. Mustered out of 
service as 1st Sergt. June 22, 1865. 

Lyman C. Gale. Private Co. F, 4th Vt. Vols., Aug. 20, 1S(,L 1st 
Ser^^t Sept 21, 1861. Honorably discharged July 30, 1864, for df^^abdity. 
Geor-e P. Welch. Private Co. D, Aug. 20, 1862. Sergeant-Major Jan. 
1,1863. ° 2d Lieut. Co. C, March 3, 1864. Wounded severely Oct. 19, 
1864. Honorably discharged Dec. 27, 1864, for wounds. 
Charles W. Wheeler. Promoted Qr. Mr. March 22, 1865. 
Edward Vinclette, Private Co. F, July 12, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
1st Sergt. Jan. 1, 1804. 2d Lieut, Co. K, Feb. 9, 1865. Mustered out of 
service June 29, 1865. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

Maximilian Hopkins. Resigned Jan. 15, 1863. 
James S. Thompson. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. H, Xov. 2, 1864. 
Joseph H. Clark. Private Co. A, June 26, 1862. Corp. Sept. 1, 186.. 
Sergt. Dec. 8, 1863. Wounded April 2, 1865, severely. Discharged as 

Serjt. July 1, 1865, for wounds. ^ ^ t^ o- isrt-) 

Lucian D. Thompson. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. G, Dec. 2 - , 186- 
John \ Hicks, Jr. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. B, June 6, 1864. 
Daniel Foster. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. B, Dec. I'J, l-^GL 
Edward J. Stickney. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. B, March 22, 186^. 



2IO 



Jerome Ayer^ Private Co. B, July 14, 1862. Corp. March 27, 1864. 
ml ^"1 \ M o?""'*^' ^""^ ''''''' ''''^ »'18<5^' --^ Sept. 9 
22 1865 ^'^ ' ^^"''''"' '"' "^ ^'^'^^^^ ^' 1-^t Sergt. June 

Wm. H. H. Sabin. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. C, ^-ov. 8, 1862 
Charles D. Bogue. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. C, Jau. 19, 1863 

iJ'T. 7' ""rr"- "'"'■''' ""'■ ^' J"'^ ^^' '''''- Sergt. Sept. 1, 
1862. Discharged Jan. 1 , 18G4, for promotion in U. S. colored troops! 

treorge P. Welch. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. K, Au- 9 1864 
Alexander Wilkey. Private Co. G, Aug. 8, 1862.° Corp. 'ser-t 1st 
Sergt. May 21, 1864. Deserted Jan. 10, 1865. 

Samuel Greer. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. F, Feb. 9, 1865 
William R. Hoyt. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. A, March 2-\ 1865 
Thomas H. AV^hite. Private Co. G, Aug. 6, 1862. Corp Sent 1 186^ 
Sergt. 1st Sergt. Feb. 26, 1865. Mustered "out of service June 2^^ 1865 
George E. Davis. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. D, Jan. 26 1863 
Lemuel A. Abbott. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. E, June 17, 1864 
James M. Read. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. E, Dec. 19, 1864 
Artemas PI. Wheeler. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. H, March ''>o 1865 
George PShedd. Private Co. D, Aug. 9, 1862. Corp. Jan. 17, isGS. 
sergt. Jan. 1, 1864. Wounded severely Sept. 19, 1864. Mustered out of 
service as Sergt. June 22, 1865. 

Stephen D. Soule. Resigned Jan. 12, 1863. 
Edward P. Farr. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co.' G, Au<^ 9 1864 
186?" w°''", ?f': .^"'""'' ^"'- I^''^»g-8.1S62. 1st Sergt. Sept. 1, 
fcUon ^tt£^ '' ''''' ""''' ""'''- '' ''''' '' "^""'^^ ^-^-^-^ ^^ 
Ezekiel T. Johnson. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. G, March "•> 1865 
WaUer Graham. Private Co. E, July 19, 1862. Corp. J^oV.^D^ 1862. 
Sergt. Dec 27, 1862. 1st Sergt. Dec. 31, 1862. Mustered out of ser -ice as 
1st Sergt. June 22, 1865. 

Alexander W. Chilton. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. I, Dee. 27, 1862 
Henry W. Kingsley. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. F, June 6, 1864. "' 
Silas H. Lewis, Jr. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. D, Nov "> 1864 ' 
Henry C. Irish. Private Co. D, Aug. 2, 1862. Corp. Sept. I,'l862. 1st 
feergt. Jan. 1, 1864. Wounded severely Sept. 19, 1864. Discharged as 1st 
Sergt. Co. D, May 9, 1865, for wounds. 

Albert N. Nye. Private Co. F, Aug. 4, 1862. Corp. Sept. 1, 1862. 
Sergt. June 5, 1864. Wounded severely, Sept. 22, 1864. 1st Sergt. May 
14, I860. Mustered out of service as 1st Sergt. June 22, 1864. 

Charles G. Newton. Killed near Cold Harbor, Va., ' Junel, 1864. 
Henry G. Stiles. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. E, Feb. 9, 1865 
Almon Ingram. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. G, June 15, 1865. 
Andrew J. Clogston. Private Co. G, July 21, 1862. Corp Au- 18 
1864. Sergt. Oct. 27,1864. 1st Sergt. April 14,1865. Mustered out of 
service as 1st Sergt. June 22, 1865. 



211 



Salmon E. Perbam. rromoted 1st Lieut. Co, H, Jan. 19, 1803. 

Daniel G. Hill. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. G, June 17, 1864. 

Isaac L. Powers. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. C, Feb. 9, 1865. 

Henry H. Adams. Private Co. C, July 10, 1862. Corp. Sept. 1, 1802. 
Sergt. Aug. 6, 1863. Eegt. Qr. M. Sergt. July 1, 1864. Mustered out of 
service as Qr. M. Sergt. June 22, 1865. 

Ernest C. Colby. Resigned Jan. 16, 1863. 

Justin Carter. Private Co. B, July 12, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
Resigned Feb. 24, 1864. 

William White. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. I, Aug. 9, 1804. 

Charles W. Wheeler. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. K, Feb. 9, 1865. 

Darwin K. Gilson. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. I, June 15, 1805. 

George Church. Private Co. I, Aug. 12, 1802. Corp. Sept. 1, 1862. 
Sergt. June 1, 1864. Sergt. Major Feb. 20, 1805. Mustered out of service 
as Sergt. Major, June 22, 1865. 

Rufus K. Tabor. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. A, June 6, 1864. 

Austin W. Fuller. Private Co. I, Aug. 9, 1862. Sergt. Sept. 1, 1862. 
Reg. Com. Sergt. Jan. 19, 1863. Wounded severely Oct. 19, 1864. Hon- 
orably discharged Dec. 15, 1864, for wounds. 

Edward Vinclette. Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. K, March 22, 1865. 

Charles P. Hadlock. Private Co. K, July 29, 1802. Corp. Sept. 1, 
1862. Sergt. Nov. 2, 1804. Mustered out of service as Sergt. June 22, 1865. 



NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF, 

At the time of muster, Sept. 1, 1802. 

SERGEANT-MAJOR. 

John A. Hicks. Promoted 2d Lieut. Co. B, Dec. 27, 1862. 

QUARTERMASTER-SERGEANT. 

Henry W. Kingsley.' Promoted 2d Lieut. Co. F, Dec. 27, 1802. 

COMMISSARY-SERGEANT. 

Daniel G. Hill. Promoted 2d Lieut. Co. H, Jan. 11, 1803. 

DRUM-MAJOR. 

Russell Fisk. Discharged Jan. 8, 1803. 

HOSPITAL STEWARD. 

Thomas G. Underwood. Finally assigned to Co. C. 



212 

ENLISTED MEN. 
Company A. 

SERGEANTS. 

James S. Thompsou. Promoted 2d Sergeant Co. A, June 19, 1863. 
Prisoner June 1, 1863. 1st Lieut. Co. H, Nov. 2, 1864. Wounded April 2, 
1865. 

Isaac L. Powers. Wounded June 1, 1864. 

Benjamin F. Quimby. Promoted to colored troops. 

Moses W. Sawyer. Promoted to colored troops. 

Stephen Knight. Died Dec. 15, 1862. 

CORPORALS. 

Jonathan Hoyt. Promoted Sei'gt. Died of wounds received in action 
June 3, 1864. 

Ira B. Cole. Promoted Sergt. Died Dec. 1863. 

Lyman Bemis, Jr. Pi'omoted Sergt. 

George Labaree. Promoted Sergt. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Merritt S. Packer. 

Henry Gannon. 

Emery Kelley. 

Joseph H. Clark. Promoted 2d Lieut. Co. A, Dec. 19, 1864. Wounded 
April 2, 1865. 

William Hall. 
Calvin Dewey. 

Martin Hardy. 



MUSICIANS. 



WAGONER. 



PRIVATES. 

Hiram Aikin. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

George Bailey. 

Henry J. Bailey. Wounded May 10, 1864. 

Jacob Bailey. Wounded May 13, 1864 and June 1, 1864. 

Kimball Ball. Died Dec. 11, 1862. 

George Butler. Killed in Action Nov. 27, 1863. 

Joseph Bean. Died in Richmond, Va., March 23, 1864. 

John Berthiaume. Promoted Corp. 

George T. Blanchard. Died. 

John Bokart. 

Olin B. Bridge. Promoted Corp. 

Henry G. Brown. Deserted. 

Thomas Cable. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

William H. Cade. Wounded and died of wounds Nov. 2, 1864. 

Alonzo P. Carr. Died Nov. 5, 1862. 



213 



Benjamin V. Carr. Transferreil to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Edwin C. Clement. Killed June 1, 1864. 

John T. Cole. Both eyes shot out April 2, 1865. 

Orra C. Cole. Enlisted in Eeg. Army. 

Charles W. Conley. Promoted Corp. 

George H. Conley, 

John Conley. Prisoner May IS, 1864— so died Aug. 10, 1864. 

Landon Cram. Died Oct. 18, 1863. 

Isaac Crooker. Deserted. 

George M. D. Douse. Wounded Xov. 27, 1863. 

Thomas J. Drew. Killed at Cold Harbor June 3, 1864. 

William Drew. Wounded May 11, 1864. 

Edward Duval. Died Jan. 1, 1863. 

Eobert W. C. Farnsworth. Promoted Corp. 

Clark Field. Died Nov. 4, 1862. 

Mieliael Fitzgerald. 

Charles W. Flanders. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Nelson Flinton. 

Joseph Brown. Transferi'ed to U. S. Navy. 

William S. Folger. Died Dec. 27, 1863. 

John Folsom. Died Oct. 31, 1862. 

James Gordon. 

George A. Griswold. Enlisted in Regular xVrniy. 

Plummer B. Hall. Killed Sept. 22, 1864, iu action. 

John Harris. Wounded May 10, 1864, afterwards deserted. 

Robert Haskell. 

James Hickie. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

John Hill. Deserted. 

Charles R. Hoag. Wounded May 9, 1864. 

Albert W. Hudson. 

Frank W. Hudson. 

Solomon S. Hudson. 

Nelson Hunt. 

Nathaniel M. Johnson. 

Frederick F. Kendall. 

Henry A. Lawrence. Promoted Corp. 

Charles A. Lyford. Died Oct. 6, 1863. 

Samuel S. Mann. Died Aug. 5, 1863. 

Alvin T. Martin. Died Dec. 9, 1863. 

Charles W. Mason. 

Lyman Maxfield. 

Joseph Maxfield. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Martin McCormick. 

Arthur McLaughlin. Died Dec. 8, 1863. 

Samuel E. Merriam. Enlisted in Regular Army. 

Solomon Mitchell. 



314 



Atkins S. Moore. 

Joseph A. Morrill. "Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Daniel Morse. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Oliver Morse. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Thomas B. Morse. 

Robert Murray. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

"William Murray. "Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Nelson Noyes. Died in Richmond, Va. 

Jefl'erson Packard. 

Edgar Palmer. 

Trefly Paquin. Died May 7, 1865. 

Noah S. Powers. Transferred to Vet. Res. Cori>s. 

Robert Reed. Transferred to "V^et. Res. Corps. 

■William D. Root. Died Dec. 13, 1862. 

George Stevens. Died Sept. 5, 1864. 

Joseph F. Tyler. Enlisted iu Regular Army. 

William J. Utley. 

William H. Wallace. Wounded May 9, 1864. 

George C. Walter. Promoted Corp. 

James Webb. Died Nov. 25, 1863. 

William H. H. Whitehill. 

Charles Woodruff. Promoted Corp. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

KECRUITS. 

Francis Bailey. Died of wounds received in action. 
Daniel D. Barber. 

Lewis Batchelder. Died Oct. 14, 1864. 
Samuel C. Chaplin. 

Abner H. Church. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Henry R. Conger. Wounded at Cold Harbor. Transferred to Vet. 
Res. Corps. 

Samuel J. Covery. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Alburn L. Currier. 

Samuel P. Drew. Wounded May 11, 1864. 

F. B. Eaton. 

Reuben S. Hurd. 

Benman A. Kelley. 

Chilliau H. Lackey. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

George W. Lackey. 

Huntington M. Lamb. Promoted Corp. 

Edwin Moore. Died at Danville, "Va., Dec. 25, 1864. 

Edwin C. Morey. Deserted. 

Charles D. Newell. 

Robinson Rich. 

William T. Richards. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

William Robinson. Died Oct. 15, 1864. 



Xewell F. Stevens. 
Frank Willey. 
Flinton Ilarrisou. 
Jolm Gleason. 
Arthur Kincade. 
Edward II. May. 
Oren P. Rogers. 



Company B. 



SERGEANTS. 

Lemuel A,. Abbott. See officers' roster. 
Justin Carter. See officers' roster. 
Daniel Foster. See officers' roster. 
Hiram M. Pierce. Wounded Nov. 27, 18G3. 
Chester S. Dana. Promoted 1st Scrgt. 

CORPORALS. 

Abraham II. Holt. Promoted Sergt. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 
Edwin Parker. 

James M. Carr. Promoted Scrgt. Died July 1st, ISGi. 
Albert F. Dodge. Promoted Sergt. 

Quincey A. Greene. Promoted Sergt. Wounded Nov. 27, 18G4, again 
at Cold Harbor. 

Edward J. Stickney. See officers' roster. 

Clianey W. Beal. 

Henry L. Marshall. Transferred to Yet. Res- Corps. 

MUSICIANS. 

Lucas Downing. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 
Ebeuezer J. Foster. 

WAGONER. 
Alpha M. Austin. Died Aug. 18, 1863. 

PRIA'ATES. 

Albert J. Ayer. Died Sept. IG, 18G3. 

Jerome Ayers. Promoted Corp. and Sergt. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Frank A. Austin. 

Gustavus Bailey. 

Dan Barker. 

Robert S. Bickford. 

John Blanchard. Wounded Nov. 27, 18G3. 

Peter Baver. Wounded Nov. 27, 18G3. Deserted. 

James M. Boyce. Died Oct. G, 1863. 

Henry M. Bradley. 

James Briggs. 



2l6 



Robert Brooks. Died a prisoner at Dauville, Ya., Dec. 23, 1S64. 

George Brown. 

George G. Brown. Promoted Corp. 

Cliarles Burgess. 

John Burke. Died Nov. 9, 1803. 

Tuffield Cayne. Killed at Cold Harbor June 1, 1864. 

Henry L. Clark. Died Jan. 29, 18G3. 

Osmau G. Clark. Wounded May 12, 1864. Died July 11, 1864. 

William Clark. 

Curtis A. Coburu. Transferred to Signal Corps. Taken prisoner. 

Ezra W. Conaut. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. Transferred to Vet. Res. 
Corps. 

Edwin C. Crossett. 

George Crossett. Died Aug. 18, 1863. 

Henry W. Crossett. Died of wounds received Nov. 27, 1863. 

Holmes Cushman. Died. 

Louis Darent. 

Larrcy Dodge. Died Oct. 28, 1864. 

Robert Eagan. Died March 1, 1864. 

Edward P. Evans. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 

Ira H. Evans. Transferred to colored troops. 

Perley Farrar. Killed May 19, 1864. 

Leonard R. Foster, Jr. Promoted Corp. Killed at Cedar Creek, Oct. 
19, 1864. 

Joseph O. Freeman. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 

Henry P. Gale. 

Joseph A. Gilman. Wounded. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Andrew J. Glysson. 

Isaac Godfrey. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 

Jacob Godfrey. 

Allen Greeley. Promoted Corp. Wounded. Died of wounds July 1, 
1864. 

Peter Guyette. 

Lewis A. Hall. 

Calvin Holt. 

Martin Honan. Promoted Sergt. Wounded April 2, 1865. Died April 10. 

George J. Hubbard. Promoted Corp. 

John Jerome. 

Ira J. Johnson. 

Felix H. Kennedy. Died D.-c. 8, 18G3. 

Charles B. Lee. Promoted Corp. 

Hiram A. Luce. 

James M. Mather. Died of wounds received at Cold Harbor. 

George Mathews. Promoted Corp. 

Dexter Moody. 

John Morrisette. 



217 

Walter H. ISTelson. -founded Xov. 2T, 18C3, and at Si)ottsylvania, 
Tabor H. Parcber. Promoted Corp. 
Alfred H. Parkburst. 
Horatio Parkburst. 
Robert Patterson. 

Layfette G. Ripley. Wounded Nov. 27, 1SG3. Transferred to Vet- 
Res. Corps. 

John H. Rublee. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 

Seth T. Sargent. 

Fabius Scaribo. 

Prentiss S. Scribner. 

Julius Selina. 

Abel Shonio. Promoted Corp. 

Charles Smith. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Hiram S. Smith. Promoted Corp. 

John G. Smith. 

Rufus Streeter. 

Gilman D. Storrs. Killed Nov. 27, 1803. 

Stephen G. Stewart. 

Edward Tylor. 

Willard M. Thayer. Promoted Corp. 

Abel M. Town. Wounded at Cold Harber. 

Ezekiel S. Waldron. Wounded April 2, 1SG5. 

Nelson W. Wheelock. Died Dec. 3, 1864. 

Hiram Williams. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Joseph AVood, Jr. Promoted Corp. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Sidney H. Woodard. Promoted Corp. 

Ira S. Woodward. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

William Woodward. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

KECRUITS. 

David Barton. Prisoner. 
Nelson Beach. Wounded. 
Alonzo Bragg. 

George Brown. Died at Andersonville, Ga. 

Haverhill S. Burley. Died June 20, 1804, of wounds received in action. 
Martin Cane. Died a prisoner at Danville, Va. 
Willis H. Crossett. 

Edwin H. Dana. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Thomas F. Dwyer. 

Hamilton Glines. Died June 18, 1804, of wounds received in action. 
Hial Hill. 

James W. Jones. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Austin J. Lewis. Prisoner. 
Alva Rowell. Killed at Cold Harbor. 
John W. Sawyer. Deserte^. 
15 



2l8 



Abner Smith. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

George Tatro. Deserted and returned under Pres. proclamation. 

Charles Wheeler. 

Liberty V/hite. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Hiram Youn*. Committed suicide. 

Joseph E. Young. Wounded May 10, 1864. 

John V. McCartney. 

George G. Rice. Died Jan. 17, 1864. 

Benhard F. Schellburg. 

Compamj C. 

SERGEANTS. 

Henry G. Post. Enlisted in Regular Army. 

William Peabody. Died of wounds received at Monocacy, Md., July 
9, 1864. 

John E. Huntoon. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Charles M. Noble. Promoted Scrgt. 

Charles M. Edgorton. Promoted to colored troops. 

CORPORALS. 

John W. Dike. Wounded. Promoted Sergt. 

Adin H. Greene. Promoted Sergt. 

James Blair. 

Harrison Law. Color Guard. Wounded at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 

Edwin R. Buxton. Wounded. See officers" roster. 

Henry H. Adams. See officers' roster. 

Christopher Rice. 



Christopher George. 

Charles H. Burr. 
William H. Hoadley. 

.Jacob Dion. 



MUSICIANS. 



WAGONER. 



PRIVATES. 



Alonzo Atwater. 

Marcus Atwood. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

Peter Avery. Mortally wounded April 2, 1865. 

Joseph Ayers. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

George N. Badger. Deserted. 

Henry Barce. Died June 17, 1865. 

Martin H. Barney. 

Herman D. Bates. 

William H. Brackett. Promoted Hospital Steward. 

James Burns. 

Oliver F. Churchill. 



219 



John Coffee. 

Job H. Colvin. 

William Corey. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Thomas Cunningham. 

Charles H. Dayton. Died Sept. 26, 1862. 

John M. Dorsett. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Charles R. Dyan. Promoted Corp. Wounded twice. 

An>ert Falk. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 

Henry M. Ferris. 

John S. Ford. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

John Fortier. Died Oct. 27, 1862. 

David Gouley. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

William H. Grace. Deserted. 

Edwin Green. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Samuel Greer. See officers' roster. 

Lewis Gregory. 

Philip Gregory. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Edward Harvey. Deserted. 

Erwin Haskins. 

Rufus K. Headle. Died Oct. 27, 1862. 

Chai'les L. Hilliard. Promoted Corp. 

Francis H. Hoadley. 

Squier H. Holdeu. 

Edward Holton. Died Aug. 15, 1863. 

John G. Housey. 

Curtis Howard. Promoted Corp. 

James Hoy. 

Michael Hubbard. Promoted Corp. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Edwin S. Hudson. Died Aug. 22, 1863. 

Francis Kennedy. 

Edward P. Kimberly. Promoted Corp. 

Nelson King. 

Henry J. Langsyne., 

Aranah Letfiiugwell. 

Harlan P. Lefflngwell. 

Charles Leonard. 

John H. Lewis. 

Thomas Mann. Died Nov. 4, 1862. 

Lewis S. Maranville. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Joshua B. Martin. Twice wounded. 

Warren McClure. 

James McGue. Promoted Corp. 

Cyrus H. Mead. Deserted. • 

Henry Miner. 

James Miner. 

Eli A. 3Ioers. 



220 



Byrou D. Morgan- 
David Oney, Jr. 
Charles Packard. 
William A. Peirce. 
Allen Rogers. 

John Salger. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Isaac E. Sawyer. Died Dec. 17, 18G3, of wounds received in action. 
Charles Schaifner. Prisoner. 
William Schollar. 
Harry G. Sessions. Wounded. 

John L. Shannon. Wounded Nov. 27, 18G3. Missing in action Oct. 19, 
1864. 

George R. Streeter. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 
Franklin B. Swan. Missing in action Oct. 19, 1S64. 
William H. H. Thompson. Died a prisoner at Richmond, Va. 
William A. Towusend. Transferred to Signal Corps. 
ThomasG. Underwood. • 

Andrew Vasser. 

Francis Vedell. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Adin G. Wellman. Wounded July 9, 1804. 
Nathan N. Wescott. Died Nov. 13, 18G2. 
Philander C. Wetmore. 
Joseph H. Winn. 

Willard Wood. Drowned at White's Ford, Md., May 7, 1863. 
* Daniel Woods. 

Robert A. Woodward. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Edward Yarton. Wounded. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

RECRUITS. 

James N. Buel. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Columbus C. Churchill. Promoted Corp. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Lorenzo Ford. Died March 15, 1864. 

Joseph Ginger. 

Harvey Green. 

John Hopkins. 

Patrick Hopkins. Died Aug. 7, 1864. 

Alva Hubbard, Jr. 

Orrin Huggins. Wounded March 25, 1865. 

Dennis Locklin. Died of wounds received in action. 

Charles W. McClure. 

■Stephen M. Packard. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Abel Peters. Twice wounded. 

Edmund R. Stiles. Died Jjme 12, 1865. 

Mitchell Vasa. 

■Joseph White. 

-Leland J. Williams. Prisoner. 



221 

John Carroll. 

Abram Densmore. 

Judah D. Hall. Died June 21, 1865. 

Thomas J. Ilennacy. 

Scott Maynard. 

Jesse Parkhurst. 

Edward Stanton. 

William Welch. 

Company D. 

SERGE.iJSrTS. 
Haskell M. Phelps. 

Andrew Dougherty. Died a prisoner at Danville, Va., Nov. G, 1864. 
Lyman Bullock, Jr. 
James M. Read. See officers' I'oster. 
George W. Rines. 

CORPORALS. 

Henry C. Irish. Promoted Sergt. 1st Sergt. See officers' roster. 

Michael Kehoe. Died of wounds received Nov. 27, 1863. 

Thomas Kiley. Promoted Sergt. Transferred to Vet. Ees. Corps. 

William H. Cobb. Promoted Sergt. 

Homer Lyman. Promoted Sergt. 

Charles Dougherty. Promoted Sergt. 

Willis S. Simonds. Promoted Sergt. 

William A. Griswold. Promoted Sergt. 



MUSICIAN. 
WAGONER. 



Cornelius 0. Colby. 
Thomas McMahon. 

PRIVATES. 

Martin V. B. Alger. ^ 

Robert Alexander. Deserted. 

Robert J. Alexander. Died Dec. 23, 1863. 

John Bissett. 

James P. Bixby. 

Luman L. Bixby. 

Alfred Boucher. 

Philetus Brace. 

Oscar G. Brown. Promoted Corp. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Lyman Bullock. 

Willaby Z. Burdick. Wounded. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

George Burnett. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

Martin Butler. 

James Codogan. 



222 



James H. Cain. Died of wounds received Oct. 19, 1864. 

Rollin M. Carl. Wounded. 

Augustus J. Crane. 

Augustus H. Crown. Promoted Corp. 

Martin L. Currier. 

John Daley. 

Louis Darent. Transferred to Vt. Res. Corps. 

Albert B. Day. Died Oct. 27, 1862. 

William Dimick. 

John Dolan. 

Francis Douglass. Died Dec. 15, 1863. 

William G. Doyne. Died March 22, 1863. 

Oral C. Dudley. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

William Edwards. 

Henry Falkins. 

George Gabaree. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

James Gardner. Died Oct. 1, 1863. 

Joseph Garron. Died Nov. 28, 1863, 

Patrick Gilluley. Promoted Corp. 

Haley H. Hall. Died Dec. 27, 1862. 

Joseph Henry. Died April 26, 1864. 

Hiram W. Hicks. Died of wounds received in action. 

Roswell Hunt. Promoted Corp. 

William Johns. Died Nov. 3, 1862. 

Joseph Joslin. Killed near Cold Harbor June 10, 1864. 

Albert R. Keyes. Wounded. 

Stephen Lajoie. 

John Lamoine. 

Joseph Lander. Prisoner July 9, 1864. 

Francis Laporte. 

Joseph J. Lyons. 

Thomas Maguire. 

James Manley. Wounded May 14, 1864. 

Nathan Marsells. Deserted. 

Lyman Maxfield. Died Aug. 13, 1864. 

John Mayo. Died of wounds received at Cedar Creek. 

Augustus Mercy. Deserted. 

James Morgan. Prisoner July 9, 1864. 

Joseph Muer. Died Nov. 22, 1863. 

Thomas O'Brien. Taken prisoner July 9, 1864. 

Alfred M. Osborn. Wounded and transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Gregoire Patenode. Deserted. 

Timothy Pippin. Promoted Corp. 

Archibald S. Poole. 

William H. Ramsey. Deserted. 

Robert Rankin. Taken prisoner July 9, 1864. Died at Savannah, Ga. 



223 

Ogden B. Read. Promoted to colored troops. 

Joel X. Remmington. Died July 20, lS(i4. 

Joseph B. Riddick. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

John Rivers. Deserted. 

Pearl S. Robinson. 

Joseph Rilej'. Died of wounds received in action April 2, lSi!J5. 

Charles Sawyer. Wounded April 2, lisoS. 

Alexander Scott, Jr. Promoted Corp. 

Andrew Sears. 

Frank L. Severance. Died March 29, 1804. 

George P. Shedd. Promoted Corp. 1st Sergt. See officers' roster, 

Royal M. Sherman. 

John Swail. Deserted. 

William H. Swail. 

Joseph Tatro. 

Albert C. Yandeusen. 

Albert Washburn. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Jay Washburn. Killed in action May 5, 1864. 

Milton Washburn. 

Richard Watsoli. Promoted Corp. Wounded. 

Lyman Weeks. 

George P. Welch. See officers' roster. 

Colburn E. Wells. Wounded. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

John C. Wells. Died Jan. 3, 1863. 

Daniel Wright. Deserted. 

KECRUITS. 

Alfred Y. Ayers. Prisoner June 12, 1864. 

Theodore Beach. 

Hiram R. Bickford. Died Dec. 1, 1864. 

Alexander Billings. Deserted. 

Hiram C. Child. 

Edgar Crossett. 

Charles J. F. CuslHnan. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Daniel Dalley. 

Emerson C. Fay. Died of wounds received in action. 

Roby N. Fay. 

Thomas Fitzsimmons. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

William Hurley. Deserted. 

Thomas Lin eh an. 

Joseph ^lonock. 

John O'Xcil. Died at Andersonville, Ga. 

Homer W. Ring. Promoted Corp. 

Randall W. Wells. 

Eli Boyce. 

George Brown. Deserted. 



224 

James Burns. Deserted. 

James Carroll. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Michael Carty. Deserted. 

Jerome B. Casavant. 

George W. Davis. Deserted. 

Cliarles Dexter. Deserted. 

Silas Dickenson. Deserted. 

Thomas Fanner. Deserted. 

Charles Howard. Deserted. 

James Jackson. Died Jan. 2, 1865. 

James G. Law. Deserted. 

John Ryne. Deserted. 

Joseph Smyth. Deserted. 

James E. Whitney. Deserted. 

John Morris. Deserted. 

Samuel Morse. Deserted. 

Company E. 

SERGEANTS. 

James Lamper. Deserted. 

Charles D. Currier. Captured. 

Edward Bushnell. Promoted Com. Sergt. 

Thomas Reid. Captured July 9, 186i. 

Lyman B. Pike. Killed at Mouocacy July 9, 1864. 

CORPORALS. 
John G. Wright. Killed at Monocacy July 9, 1864. 
William J. Graham. Missed in action N"ov. 7, 1863. 
William Mahoney. Promoted Color Sergt. Killed at Cedar Creek. 
Judsou W. Bentley. 
Squire J. Matteson. 
Charles E. Morse. 
Lewis Cary. 
Thomas S. Bailey. 

MUSICIANS. 

Milton D. Stewart. 

Norman M. Pufler. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 



Conrad Appel. 



WAGONER. 



Harvey H. Allen. 

Lorenzo D. Axtell. Wounded. Died June 10, 1864, of his wounds. 

William H. Axtell. 

James P. Babcock. 

Royal P. Barber. 



22 = 



George W. Bartlctt. Died Jan. 19, 18G3. 

Robert Benjamin. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

George W. Bennett. 

Augustus A. Boutwell. Died Aug. 2, 1864. 

Piiilander Brownell. 

Zimori Brownell. 

Albee Buss. 

George Camp. Captured Dec. 3, 1863. Said to have died in Richmond, 
Ya. 

Allen S. Canady. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Hugh Carr. Died Dec. 7. 1862, 

George H. Coburn. Wounded. 

Seldeu H. Coburn. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Erskine E. Cole. Deserted. 

Tatricli Cone. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

John Cressa. Died Dec. li, 1862. 

Orrick Cressa. 

Henry C. Dawson. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

John J. Dunlap. 

John B. Farnum. Died Dec. 7, 1862. 

David O. Felt. 

Charles P. Fitch. Died of wounds received iu action. 

Liician A. Foot. Promoted Corp. Promoted Sergt. Died of wounds 
received at Cedar Creek. 

Robert M. Forsyth. Promoted Corp. Promoted Sergt. 

James C. Foster. Captured Oct. 12, 1863, Said to have died iu Rich- 
mond, Ya. 

Fred C. French. Captured. 

George 0. Germain. Wounded. Promoted Corp. 

Walter Graham. Promoted Corp. Promoted Sergt. 2d Lieut. Cap- 
tured July 9, 1864. 

Charles Green. 

Bishop C. Guilder. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Henry Haley. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

John Hayden. 

Parley Hill. 

William Hughes. Died Dec. 27, 1862. 

Edward Jaro. Promoted Corp. 

James W. Jolley. Deserted. 

Edward Kelley. Promoted Corp. Promoted Sergt. 

Edwin L. Keyes. Promoted Corp. Wounded. 

Myron Lillie. Promoted Corp. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Andrew J. Mattison. 

John McBride. Died Nov. 16, 1862. 

John McDonald. 

James McKay. Promoted Corp. Wounded. 



226 



Orrin A. MoiitgomeiT. Captured. Died at Andersouville, Gii. 
William H. Montgomery. Promoted Corp. 'VYounded April 2, 1865. 
Eiihard Moon. Promoted Drum Major. Transferred to Non-Com. 
staff. 

Erwin W. Niles. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Thomas Pier. Lost or deserted. 

John Rafferty. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Dennis Rafter. 

Peter R. Randall. 

Francis Reynolds. Mortally wounded June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor. 

Lucas Reynolds. 

William E. Reynolds. Died Jan. 20, 1864. 

Charles Rice. Died Sept. 3, 1864. 

William Savage. Died Oct. 31, 1863. 

Alfred Sears. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863; also again in 1864. 

William H. Sears. Died Nov. 19, 1862. 

Solon Shaw. Died Oct. 26, 1863. 

Joseph J. Sherman. 

Henry A. Silver. 

Philander E. Smith. Deserted. 

Thomas D. Sprague. 

Orlin B. Sprague. 

Henry Staftord. Promoted Sergt. Wounded. 

John A. Stafford. Promoted Corp. Captured July 9, 1864. 

Joseph C. Strope. Wounded. 

Andrew J. Torrance. 

Andrew V. Turner. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

Joel Walker. Wounded. Promoted Corp. 

John L. Waters. Wounded. Promoted Corp. 

Ira N. Warner. Wounded. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

George O. Warren. Died a prisoner at Andersouvillo, Ga. 

Harvey Wheeler. Died Nov. 28, 1862. 

James B. White, Deserted. 

Stephen T, White. 

Stephen R. Wilkinson. Died Dec. 10, 1862. 

Henry C. Youngs. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

RECRUITS. 

Royal H. Barber. Died July 5, 1864, of wounds received in action. 

Hiland L. Bentley. 

Joseph S. Blodgett. 

Hosea B. Curtis. 

Richard Jordan. 

John J. Jordan. 

Charles H. Lampson. 

Grossman M. Lincoln. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 



227 

James E. Lockwood. Died at Linchburg, Va., a prisoner,- 

Marcellus Mattison. 

Charles Mears. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

William H. Perkius. 

Thomas Rafter. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

William H. Stannard. 

John R. Steward. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Michael Sullivan. 

George H. Tomb. Died. 

Joseph T. Tomb. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Ezra M. Torrauce. 

Heury E. Torrance. 

Alonzo Walters. Wounded. 

Harmon Whitton. Died June 6, 1864. 

James H. AVilkey. Wounded and transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Ammi N. Wyatt. 

Luther Moffitt. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Emory Wheeler. 

George F. White. 

James F. Wilcox. 

Charles Woodard. 

Patrick Grogau. Deserted. 

(Jompany F. 

SERGEANTS. 

Edward H. Powell. Promoted Lieut. Col. in colored troops. 
George W. Burnell. Promoted Capt. in colored troops. See officers' 
roster. 

Edward Yinclette. See officers' roster. 

Erastus Carpenter. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Levi H. Robinson. Wounded and promoted to colored troops. 

CORPORALS. 

John T. Willey. Deserted. 

Orcemer R. McGowan. Promoted Sergt. Killed at Winchester, Sept. 
19, 1864. 

Stephen B. Maynard. 

Bernis A. Himes. Died Sept. 18, 18G2. 

Philip Arsino. Wounded. Died July 3, 1864. 

Albert N. Nye. See officers' roster. 

William Chatfield. Died a prisoner at Audersonville,Ga., May 20, 18C4- 

Albert James. Promoted to colored troops. 

MUSICIANS. 

Milo E. Roj'ce. Died Oct. 2", 1862. 
Dawson W. Johnson. 



228 
WAGONER. 

Emanuel Burnett. 

PRIVATES. 

Albert H. Allen. Died Sept. 14, 1864. 

Alanson M. Aseltyue. Wounded. Promoted Corp. 

John M. Aseltyne. Promoted Corp. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Merritt B. Aseltyne. Wounded. Died Dec. 27, 1863. 

WUliam H. Bailey. 

Nathaniel A. Bangs. Deserted. 

Albert Belloir. Died of wounds received in action. 

Phillier Belloir. Deserted. 

Joseph Brooks. 

Charles 31. Brow. Died July IS, 1864. 

Benjamin F. Brow. Promoted Corp. 

Lawrence Burke. Promoted Corp. 

Adolphus Burt. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 

James Caldwell. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Peter Campbell. 

Joseph Casvant. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Erastus Cheney. 

John Cosgrove. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Carlos L. Cray. Died Dec. 13, 1863. 

Levi R. Darling. Died 3Iarch 10, 1864. 

George Dart. Promoted Corp. and deserted. 

Jacob Decker. 

Jules Derex. 

Charles Dingman. 

William S. Dingman. 

Charles Downey. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Marshall H. Downey. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Azro R. Doyon. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

John Doyon. 

William East. Deserted. 

Silas E. Farnsworth. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Alvin J. Folsom. 

Johnson Gibson. 

Hugh Green. 

Michael Greene. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. Captured April 2, 1865. 

Elijah Grover. 

Charles Hackett. 

Daniel P. Hamilton. 

Hermon H. Hamilton. 

Myron W. Hickok. Promoted Corp. 

George C. Himes. Missing June 1st, 1864. Died of wounds. 

John Hines. 



229 

George B. Hogaboom. Promoted Corp. 
Edgar O. Howard. 

Fred "VV. Howard. TTounded Xov. 27, 1863. rromotcd Corp. Killed 
at Cold Harbor. 

William A. Jewett. Promoted Corp. 

Jobu Lafountaiu. TVouuded Wilderness Camjiaign. 

Peter Lafountaiu. Captured July 9, ISG-k, at Monoeacy. 

Henry Lagro. Wounded April 2, 18(55. 

Joel Lagro. Wounded. 

Newell Lambert. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Theodore Lambert. 

Francis Lapierre. Deserted. 

Henry Larose. Deserted. 

John Larose. 

Charles Lature. Deserted. 

John Louiselle. Promoted Corp. Killed at Winchester. 

Charles T. Magee. 

Ranald McDougall. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

John McNally 2d. Promoted Corp. 

William Miner. Captured April 2, 1865. 

George W. Mouteith. Wounded March 25, 1865. 

John Monteith. Taken prisoner at Monoeacy. 

Washington W. Munsell. 

George A. Parker. Promoted Corp. 

Smith J. Peacock. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

Thomas L. Phelps. Promoted Corp., do. Sergt. 

Charles A. Powell. Promoted to colored troops. 

Rastmus H. Rice. Promoted Corp., do. Sergt. 

Thomas D. Riley. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Charles Roby, Jr. 

Jean B. Rouilliard. Promoted Corp. 

Loyal P. Sheldon. 

Lucius Shepard. 

Lewis Sidney. 

Peter Shora. 

Richard Smith. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

William G. Smith. Deserted. 

Horace L. Stimets. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Michael Tatro. Dropped Aug. 31, 1864. 

Alanson Watson. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Hannibal Whitney. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

KKCRUITS. 

Roderick Chapin. 

Cassius M. C. Doton. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Frank Gainley. 



230 

Edward Gorman. 

Reuben Hamblet. Transferred to Vet Res. Corps. 

Nathan Hamilton. 

Frank P. Hibbard. Died June 9, 1864. 

Joel L. Hoag. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Heman Jackson. 

Lyman Kenuey. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

William H. Mitchell. Wounded and deseited. 

Lucien B. Parker. 

Adian C. Proctor. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Matthew Quinn. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

John Rice. Died Oct. 15, 1864. 

Loren M. Rice. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Joseph Russell. Died Aug. 18, 1864. 

Lewis B. Vincent. Captured July 9, 1864, and died at Danville, Va. 

Marshall Bliss. 

Martin D, Cavanaugh. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Martin M. Downing. 

Peter Gallager. Probably captured. 

Barrett W. Goff. 

James M. Goff. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Francis F. Hopkins. 

Enos W. Smith. Died June 5, 1865. 

James W. Smith. 

William Proctor. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Company G. 

SERGEANTS. 

Edward P. Farr. See offlcers' roster. 
Charles X. Martin. Wounded May 12, 1864. 
.Alnion lugrahara. See officers' roster. 
Van H. Bugbee. Transferred Signal Corps. 
Alpheus H. Cheney. Promoted colored troops. 

CORPORALS. 

Moses W. Leavitt. 

Thomas H. White. Promoted Serg. and 2d Lieut. See officers' roster. 

Levi N. Fullman. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

William C. Scruton. Died Sept. 19, 1863. 

Burns L. Center. Promoted Sergt. Died Feb. 28, 1864. 

Dennisou L. Hopkins. Died of vrounds received in action. 

Sargent A. Paige. Wounded May, June, 1864. 

Charles L. Rice. 

MUSICIAXS. 

James H. George. Prom, to principal musician and leader of Band. 
Garom C. Getchell. 



231 



Killed at "Win- 



WAGONER. 

Ralph Keiulrick. 

PRIVATES. 

Sj'lvester G. Abbott. 

Moses C. Bacou. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 

Ira J. Batlger. "Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Chester. 

Alonzo F. Bartlett. "Wounded "Wilderness Campaign. 

Oscar F. Bartlett. Promoted Corp. 

Edwin S. Battles. "Wounded, afterwards killed at "Winchester. 

Peter Bingham. Killed at "Winchester. 

Almon C. Boutwell. Promoted Corp., wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Joseph A. Ballard. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863, died Jan. 27, 1804. 

Henry P. Burnham. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Charles H. Carley. 

Benjamin G. Chatlield. 

Smith C. Cheney. Died Sept. 5, 1803. 

Josiah Clark. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. Killed at Winchester. 

Urial A. Clark, Jr. Promoted Sergt. 

Andrew J. Clayston. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. ; do. 2d Lieut. See 
oiiicers' roster. 

John F. Corliss. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Leander Decamp. Died of wounds received Wilderness Campaign. 

Jason Densmore. Wounded Xov. 27, 1863. Promoted Corp. 

Simon Dewey. Wounded Apr. 26, 1865. 

Newell F. Doten. Died Oct. 22, 1864. 

Charles A. Edson. Died Mar. 7, 1864. 

Edward Emory. 

John Fimm. 

Edward Fitzgerald. 
1865. 

George L. Flanders. 

Napolean Foucrean. 

Daniel B. Freemam 

Henry F. Freeman. 
Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Julius Freeman. Promoted Corp. W^ounded. 

Dan B. Fuller. Wounded mortally at Winchester. 

Charles H. George. 

Osman C. B. George. Died Dec. 2, 1863. 

John A. Griswold. Wounded and transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 



Promoted Corp.; do. Sergt. Wounded Apr. 2, 

Killed in action May 18, 1864. 

Promoted Corp. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 
Wounded May, 1864. Promoted Corp., do. Sergt, 



James W. Hadlock. 
Benjamin Hall. 
Charles V. Haynes. 
Milan Hebard. 
Jonathan Hosford. 



Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 
Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 



233 

Benjamin F. Hyde. 

David M. Jillson. "Wounded TTilderness Campaign. Wounded Apr. 2, 
1865. 

Lucius M. Kent. 

Loren G. Kidder. Wounded. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

George F. Kinney. Died Nov. 24, 1862. 

Alpha H. Luce. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Harvey B. Luce. Died Nov. 21, 1864. 

Arthur W. Marston. 

George E. Mason. 

Hugh H. Mclntyre. Transferred to Signal Corps. 

Edward J. McKillip. 

Azro P. McKinstry. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Archibald McMurphy. 

William J. Merritt. Died Feb. 8, 1865. 

George B. Miles. 

Edwin Z. Patterson. Wounded and transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Warren Pepper. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

George W. Perry. Died Feb. 24, 1864. 

Juistin J. Phelps. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

John C. Place. Captured at Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864. 

George L. Poor. 

John H. Poor. Wounded and transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Albert H. Porter. Wounded. Promoted Corp. Transferred to Vet. 
Res. Corps. 

Andrew J. Pride. Promoted Corp. 

Cliester L. Reed. Died of wounds received Wilderness Campaign. 

Ira A. Rice. Deserted and returned under President's Proclamation. 

Erastus B. Rowell. 

William Sanborn, Jr. 

David Seymour. Promoted Corp. 

Jotham Sherman. Died Mar. 7, 1863. 

Harvey J. Sprague. 

George Temple. Promoted Corp. Died Feb. 22, 1864. 

Henry M. Tenney. Died Feb. 9, 1864. 

Charles Thompson. 

Otis Tiffany. Captured July 9, 1864. Died at Staunton, Va. 

Edwin C. Tuttle. Promoted Corp. Wounded Apr. 2, 1865. 

William Watt. Promoted Corp. 

Alonzo B. Whitney. Promoted colored troops. 

Alexander Wilkey. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. ; do. 2d Lieut. See 
officers' roster. 

Joseph K. Williams. Died of wounds received Wilderness Campaign. 

Robert D. Winter. Promoted to colored troops. 

George W. Wise. Promoted Corporal. Wounded Apr. 2, 1862. 

Thomas L. Wood. 



233 



RECRUITS. 

Jesse Clark. Died Feb. 10, 186i. 
George A. Emory. 
Lewis W. Flint, 

Edwin C. Hall. Wounded Apr. 2, 1865. 
Perry Hopkins. Wounded May 12, 1864. 
Cornelius Kellogg. 

David Lyman. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
George W. Martin. 

Samuel D. Parker. Died of wounds received at Petersburg Apr. 2, 1865. 
John F. Pearson. Killed at Cold Hai'bor. 
Horace T. Smith. Wounded Apr. 2, 1865. 
David Whitney. Wounded Apr. 2, 1865. 

Lyman G. Woodbury. Captured July 9, 186L Died at Danville, Va., 
Nov. i, 186i. 

Henry E. Campbell. 

Alfred Clark. 

John Clough. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Charles H. Crocker. Killed Cedar Creek. 

Thomas Dunn. Never joined the company. 

George G. Edson. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Charles Emery. 

Lewis E. Fisher. 

Jere N. George. 

Olin W. Goodale. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Charles Hallenbeck. Never joined the company. 

Charles A. Kelley. 

George Kingsbury. 

Asa H. Pepper. 

Charles E. Porter. 

John W. Raymond. 

George E. Rich. 

Aaron K. Smalley. 

Alfred B. Smalley. 

Smith Taylor. 

George H. Woodard. Wounded Apr. 2, 1862. 

Darius Whitcomb. 

Company H. 

SERGEANTS. 

Henry G. Stiles. See officers' roster. 
Frank B. Davis, Promoted to colored troops. 
George C. Mead. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 
Edwin A. Pease. 

Artemus H. Wheeler. See officers' i-oster. 
16 



234 



CORPORALS. 

Jonathan C. How, Promoted Sergt. 

Warren P. Tenney. Transferred to Yet. Res. Corps. 

Ezekiel T. Johnson. Promoted Sergt. Wounded. 

AVilliam A. Clement. See officers' roster. 

Sylvester H. Parker. Promoted Sergt. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Wilmer C. Barnard. Detailed to Hosp. Dept. 

William A. Chapin, Jr. Detailed to Hosp. Dept. 

Thomas Hadley. * 

MUSICIANS. 

Thomas C. Ball. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 
George H. Whitcomb. 

AVAGONER. 

Charles S. Goddard. 

PRIVATES. 

Alexander Abbott. Died Feb. 1, ISGi. 

Waylaud Adams. 

William B. Ashley. 

Alonzo Baker. Promoted Corp. Died Dee. 15. 1864. 

James T. Baldwin. Died of wounds received at Cedar Creek. 

Owen Bartley. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. Killed at Win- 
. Chester Sept. IQ, 1864. 

Daniel F. Bennett. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Levi T. Blake. Deserted. 

Thomas C. Bond. 

John G. Bostwick. Detailed to Com. Dept. 

Zeuas C. Bowen. Wounded in Wilderness Campaign. 

Charles H. Boyd. 

Laroy A. Britton. Died Dec 17, 1862. 

George A. Bucklin. Promoted Corp. Died of wounds received at 
Petersburg, April 2, 1865. 

Dwight E. Clement. Promoted Coi'p. 

William N. Cobb. Promoted Corp. Wounded. 

George Colby. 

George L. Colpoys. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Charles E. Colston. Promoted Corp. 

Nelson O. Cook. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Azro Craigne. Died June 21, 1864. 

Israel T. Croff. Died Jan. 6, 1863. 

John Daley. Promoted Corp. 

Isaac N. Davidson. Wounded. 

Ezra S. Dean. Promoted Corp. ; do. colored troops. 

Edward A. Diekerman. 

Erwin M. Dunbar. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 



235 

Jasper W. Duttoii. 

Addison F. Eaton. Wounded. 

Samuel H. E. Emery. 

George H. Earns worth. 

Austin Eenn. Promoted Corp. 

Patriek Finnegan. Promoted Corp. 

Joseph W. Fletcher. Promoted Corp. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Albert Gassett. Died July 15. 1S64. 

Oscar Gassett. Wounded Nov. 27, 1SG3. Transferred to Vet. Res. 
Corps. 

John Gauthier. 

James H. Goldsmith. 

James Hale. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Austiu Harlow, Died Feb. 20, 1S64. 

Oscar Hemenway. Promoted Corp. 

Elijah J. Hpri'ick. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 

Adelbert R. Hill. Captured July 9, 18G4. 

Charles Humphrey. 

Ira E. Hutchinson. Died of wounds received in "Wilderness Campaign. 

William M. Jones. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Daniel Keating. 

Patrick C. Kennedy. 

Frank Larbush. 

Simon Lesage. Promoted Corp. : do. Sergt. Killed at Winchester. 

Henry M. Lull. Died Xov. 4, 1862. 

Timothy B. Messer. Died of wounds received Apr. 2, ISGo. 

Samuel E. Mower. 

Franklin W. Xewman. 

Selden A. Nichols. 

Charles Oliver. 

William B. Paul. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Loren H. Pease. 

George P. Risdon. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

U Iric T. Ross. Promoted Corp. 

Franklin Roys. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 

David W. Sanderson. Deserted. 

Erastus Sargent. Deserted. 

William A. Sloane. Wounded Sept. 19, 1864, at Winchester. 

John Smith. Killed at Petersl)ur£r Mar. 25, 1865. 

Joseph A. Smith. Killed at Petersburg Mar. 25, 1865. 

Horace W. Stevens. 

John Stevens. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. Transferred Vet. 
Res. Corps. 

Dan E. Stone. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

Sylvester C. Tarble. 

Joseph Upham. 



236 

Arthur T, TTare. Died Sept. 17, 1863, 

Daniel W. Ware. 

James H. Webster. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Frederick.D. Whipple. Died Oct. 14, 1862. 

Fraukliu B. Whitcomb. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Elmore R. Whitney. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

Alviu Woodruff. Promoted Corp. Died Sept. 20, 1864. 

Charles H. Wyman. Wounded. 

Seneca Young. 

Francis Zuille. Promoted Cori). 

RECRUITS. 

Duncan Carron. Killed at Winchester. 

Daniel Dunn. 

Freeman J. Hale. 

Samuel S. Hall. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Horatio Holmes. 

Reuben S. Kirk. Promoted Corp. 

Rufus Noyse. Captured July 9, 1864, and died Sept. 14, 1864. 

William B. Nutting. 

Norman B. Read. Supposed killed at Cedar Creek. 

Martin Y. Robbins. Died Jan. 29, 1864. 

Cileston Sylvester. Promoted Corp. Wounded Apr. 2, 1865. 

Henry F. West. Wounded. 

William L. Whitcomb. 

Chauncy L. Corbiu. 

Alba Dart. 

Rufus B. Kirk. 

Aaron P. Knight. Killed at Winchester. 

Clai-euce E. Wai'e. Wounded at Petersburg Apr. 2, 1865. 

Company I. 

SERGEANTS. 

Charles D. Bogue. See ofBcers' roster. 
Austin W. Fuller. See officers' roster. 
Silas H. Lewis, Jr. See officers' roster. 
Darwin K. Gibson. See officers' roster. 
William White. See officers' roster. 

CORPORALS. 
Andrew Stevens. Killed at Cold Harbor. 
David Foster. Died March 18, 1863. 

John W. Carpenter. Promoted Sergt. Wounded at Cold Harbor. 
Died iu transit to Washington. 
William S. Shepard. 



237 



William W. Garvin. Died March 7, 1865. 

Stephen D. Hopkins. "\Yoanded. 

Thomas Hogle. Promoted Sergt. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 



Ransom J. Smith. 
Charles H. Watson. 



James Burns. 



MUSICIANS. 



WAGOXER. 



PRIVATES. 

John B. Atwood. "Wounded. 

Alba M. Banks. 

John Barabo. Died Sept. 22, 186i. 

Ira M. Barnes. Died Sept. 24, 1863. 

Sheldon J. Barnes. Died Jan. 3, 1S63. 

Edward E. Bates. Promoted Corp. 

William Bates. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

Henry D. Batchley. Captured July 9, 1864. Died at Danville, Ya., a 
prisoner, Jan. 2, 1865. 

Robert R. Blood. Deserted before muster. 

William P. Brown. Promoted Corp. Wounded Wilderness Cam- 
paign. 

Luther Burnham. Promoted Corp. 

Michael Cavanaugh. 

George Church. Promoted Corp.; do. Sergt.; do. Sergt.-Maj. 

Peter W. Crady. Transferred Yet. Res. Corps. 

John Cross 1st. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

John Cross 2d. 

William Curtis. 

Allen E. Daniels. Promoted Corp. 

Xoble B. Daniels. Wounded Wilderness Campaiirn. 

Albert Davis. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863, and Wilderness Campaign. 
Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Benjamin B. Davis. Died a prisoner at Richmond, Va. 

Hiram H. Davis. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Norman Dunbar. Died May 26, 1863. 

John Dunn. Promoted Corporal. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Stephen A. Eldred. Wounded and transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Cyrus J. Easterbrook. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Gardner Fay. Pro. Corp. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

Lewis L. Fisher. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Woster S. Flood. 

David Gochey. Promoted Corporal. 

Carlos Garron. 

Hannil ;al H. Gould. Died Dec. 22, 1833. 

Felix Hackett. Died Jan. 16, 1863. 



238 



Clark A. Hull. 

Theodore Hutchinsou. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Ciiarles H. Ives. Died Dec. 19, 1863. 

William Kelley. 

Edson B. Larabee. Promoted Corp. Wounded 'Nov. 27, 1863. 

Charles Lavalle. Died Feb. 19, 1863. 

David Lawrence. 

Palmer C. Leach. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Alvah N. Learned. 

Nelson Leonard. Deserted. 

Leander C. Levens. Promoted Corp. Promoted to colored troops . 

Joseph Martin. Died Jan. 28, 1863. . 

John Martin. Deserted. 

James McXany. 

John Millingtou. 

Joseph Minor. Died Aug. 16, 1863. 

Jay O. Mudgett. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps . 

Edward Nailor. 

Joseph Nailor. 

Sanford Newell. 

Freeman E. Norris. Killed Nov. 2T, 1863. 

Jacob E. Norris. Died Oct. 29, 1862. 

Patrick C. O'Neal. Promoted 'Corporal and killed at Cold Harbor. 

Anson S. Ormsby. Promoted Corporal. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Henry H. Ormsby. 

Charles Paine. Promoted Corp. ; do. Sergt. 

Luther Perigo. 

Orin S. Powers. 

Chai'les H. Reynolds. See officers' roster. 

Ibra Schoolcraft. Died Feb. 29, 1864. 

Harmon H. Searles. Missing in action Oct. 12, 1863. 

DeWitt B. Sexton. 

Albert M. Smith. Died Aug. 8, 1864, of wounds. 

Franklin B. Smith. 

James T. Smith. 

Romeo Smith. Killed Nov. 27, 1863. 

Peter Sour. Promoted Corp. 

Asa A. Start. 

Charles St. Germain. Died Dee. 11, 1862. 

John St. Germain. Deserted. 

John Taylor. 

Joseph Theberge. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Moses Vancore. Died March 10, 1863. 

Oscar E. AVait. Promoted Corp. 

Charles W. Wheeler. Prom. Corp. ; do. Sergt. ; see officers' roster. 

Addison Wheelock. Promoted Corp. Wounded. 



239 



Aklen D. Wheelock. Woiiiuled WiUlernes.s Campaign. 

Charles H.Wluttemore. Trom. Corp. ; do. Sergt. Wounded Apr. 2, 18C5. 

Gideon D. Williams. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps. 

RECRUITS. 

Philander Allen. Deserted. 
Charles Billings. Died July S, 1SG4. 
Alonzo X. Clark. 

Franklin Columbia. 3Iissing in action June 1, 1864. 
Francis Delancy. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
William II. Dutton. Killed at Monocacy. 
Almon W. Hale. Mortally wounded June 1, 1864. 
Hollis H. Hood. Died Feb. 9, 1864. 

William R. Hoyt. Prom. Corp. ; do. Sergt. ; do. Sergt. Maj. ; do. Lieut. 
John Hussey, Jr. 

Charles Jandreau. Died June 7, 1864. 
Albert W. Lang. Died Aug. 4, 1864. 
Lafayette Lucas. 

Plummer F. Lunt. Died July 1, 1864. 
Edgar D. Mudgelt. 
George R. Newton. 
George W. Porter. 
Thomas Proper. 

Charles Rich. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
James Shuw, Jr. Missing in action June 1, 1864. 
John Shaw. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Edwin W. Skeels. Captured at Monocacy. Died at Danville, Va., Oct. 
11, 1864. 

Samuel W. Smith. 
Silas J. Smith. 
George Austin. 
John Brasier. 
John Chabanneoux. 
Joseph R. Cornellt 
Abel A. Heath. 
Patrick Kelley. 
Amos W. Samson. 
Mike Sower. 



Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 
Died xMarch 22, 1865. 



Deserted. 



Company K. 

SERGEANTS. 

P. B, Clark. See officers' roster. 

William II. Blake. Prom. 1st Sergt. Wounded Wilderness Campaign. 

Sylvester B. Ball. Died May 6, 1865. 

George S. Newcomb. Died Dec. 14, 1862. 

Chester S. Stevens. Died Dec. 21, 1862. 



240 

CORPORALS. 
Edward Meek. Died Oct. 2, 186i. 

George H. Lawreuce. Died of wounds received in action. 
Ebenezer J. Bruce. Promoted Sergt. 

Charles P. Hadlock. Prom. Sergt. ; do. 2d Lieut. See officers' roster. 
Zopliar M. Mansur. 
Jolm W. Bancroft. 
Maschil Hunt. Promoted Sergt. 
Cliarles H. Gray. Promoted Sergt. 

MUSICIAN. 

Nelson J. Lee. 

WAGONER. 

Ivora S. Goodwin. Promoted Corp. Wounded and transferred to 
Vet. Res. Corps. 

PRIVATES. 

Thomas Alford. Killed May 5, 1864. 

Ambrose Allard. 

AloDzo Allen. Died May 3, 1863. 

Daniel W. Allen. 

Alonzo Amsdeu. Wounded AVilderness Campaign. 

Austin Betters. 

John B. Betters. Transferred Vet. Res. Corps. 

John E. Betters. Lost in the "Wilderness. 

Jotham A. Black. Promoted Corp. 

James Blodgett. 

George "\V. Blodgett. Promoted Coi-p. Wounded Wilderness Cam- 
paign. 

B. F. Bowen. Wounded in Wilderness. Killed at Cedar Creek Oct. 
19, 1864. 

Lysander A. Braynard. Promoted Corp. Wounded in Wilderness. 

George W. Bruce. Deserted. 

William Bruce. ^ 

Dawson Dort . ^^'CAyi/^ 

Joseph N. Calhoun. Wounded. 

William H. Calkins. 

Orsin Cate. 

George A. Chaffee. 

Richard W. Chaplin. Transferred Vet. Res, Corps. 

Lemuel R. Chase. Deserted. 

Kimball Clifford. 

Joseph N. Daggett. Promoted Corporal. 

Alden O. Dane. Wounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

Ephraim Danforth. Deserted. 

William Dennison. 



241 

Calvin Dunn. Wounded Nov. 27, 1803. 

-Joseijh P. Diitton. 

David Dvvire. Killed at Peterslnirg Apr. 2, 18G5. 

James B. Ellis. Died Jan. 2(i, 18(j4. 

John W. II. Evans. Died Oct. IG, 1862. 

Phimmer Foss. 

Mozart Foss. Wounded Nov. 27, 1803. 

Arba A. Freeman, Died Nov. 20, 1862. 

John C. George. 

Kimmon T. Griffin. 

Robert Gummer. 

Johnson B. Hart. AVounded Nov. 27, 1863. 

Hiram Harvey. 

Samuel E. Harvey. Died Nov. 19, 1863. 

Henry W. Hazeltine. Wounded AVilderness Campaign. 

John Heath. 

Lewis H. Ingerson. 

William P. Johnson. 

Albert G. Lawrence. Wounded Nov. 31, 1863. Died Jan. 8, 1864. 

Ezra L. Litchfield. 

Jacob C. Mansur. 

David F. Marston. Killed Nov. 28, 1863. 

.John A. McCay. Transferred Vet. Reserve Corps. 

Joshua B. McCay. Wounded Nov. 27, 18C3. 

Chancey C. Meacham. Killed at Cedar Creek. 

Riley C. Merriam. Fell out by the way and shot by guerrillas. 

Ira A. Moulton. 

•John G. Moulton. 

William S. Moulton. Missing in action June 1, 1864. 

Isaac Musk. Died Nov. 3, 186:^. 

Alexander T. Norris. Promoted Corii. Ti-ansferi'ed Vet. Res. Corps 

George Norris. Died Oct. 13, 1862. 

John Piper 2d. Djed April 22, 1864. 

Lucien C. Piper. Promoted Corp. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

David W. Rogers. Promoted Corp. Wounded April 2, 1865. 

Peter A. Smith. Died of wounds June 1.5, 1864. 

Judson Spoftbrd. Wounded March 25, 1865. 

Gordon Stanford. 

Albert H. Stoddard. 

James Stratton. Died April 18, 1864. 

Harrison Switzer. Died Dec. 5, 1862. 

Edward J. Thomas. Died Dec. 2, 1862.. 

George H. Tice. Promoted Corp.; do. Sergt. 

Alanson J. Tinker. Died of wounds June 2, 1865- 

Henry J. Titus. 

Ira F. Varney. Promoted Corp. 

17 



242 

( ulviu F. Wallis. Transferred to Vet. Rei«. Corps. 

Edward AVarner. Died Dec. 23, 1862. 

Curtis H. Waterman. 

Cluirles Williams. 

Lewis Wood. Died of wounds June 6, 1864. 

KECRUITS. 

I lonier Bradley. 

.Joseph Bniynard. r>ied of wounds June 21, 1864. 

Lyman J. Brown. 

Harry Clieuey. 

Joseph A. Colby. 

Leander Da\ is. Missing in action July 9, 1864. Died at Danville. N. < 

Herljert A.. Drown. Died Sept. 10, 1864. 

Edwin Foster. 

Noah W. Gray. Woundeil Wilderness Campaign. 

Edward 8. Gillman. 

John D. Grilfin. 

Bradbury A. Hunt. 

James Hussey. Missing in action Sept. 23, 1864. 

William Lowe. Deserted. 

-John Lunderville. Missing in action July 9, 1864. 

Charles F. Martin. Killed at Cold Harbor. 

Hiram Morse. Died June 10, 1864. 

Nathaniel Piper. 

Eli M. Quimby. Wounded April 2. 1865, 

Andrew Richards. 

Anthony Rollins. Deserted. 

Fred W. Root. Wounded April 6, I860. 

Charles Wilder. Wounded April 2, 1865v 



243 



FINAL STATEMENT. 



TENTH REGIMENT. 

Original members- 
Commissioned officers, oS 
Enlisted men, . . 977 Total. . 

GAIX. 

Promotion from other regiments- 
Commissioned officers, 

Transfer from other regiments- 
Enlisted men, 

Recruits — 

Appointed Commissioned officers, 2 
Enlisted men, .... 284 Total. 



Total gain, 
Aggregate, 



1015 



286 



LOSS. 

Promotion — 

To other regiments, Commissioned officers, . . 2 

To U. S. Army, " " ^^ 

Enlisted men, . . .20 Total, 28 



Total by promotion. 



Transfer — 

To Yet. Reserve Corps, Enlisted men, 
To Signal Corps, " " 

To Navy, " " 

To Regular Army, " " 

To other regiments, " 

Total by transfer. 

Death- 
Killed in action, Com. officers, 7 

Enlisted men, 76 Total, 
Wounds received in action, Com. officers, 2 

Enlisted men, 56 Total, 

Disease, 

Prisoners, u . . . 

From accident, 

Total bv death, 



78 
4 
1 

13 



83 

58 

153 

36 



28!t 



1304 



99 



332 



244 

Discharge — 

Resignation, Com. officers, . . 13 

Disability, " " ... 4 

Enlisted men, 131 Total, 135 
Wounds received in action, Com. officers, 6 

Enlisted men, 70 Total, 76 
Dishonorable, Cora, officers, 2 

Enlisted men, 2 Total, 4 

Total by discharge, 228 

Deserted, 66 

Not finally accounted for, 3 

Total loss, . . • 758 

Mustered out of service. Com. officers, 37 

Enlisted men, 509 Total, . . .546 

Aggregate, 1304 

Total wounded, . • . 356 



INDEX. 



BY J. G. ELDER, ESQ. 



Alexander, Capt., takes part in 
the Battle of Mouocacy, 93. 

Antietam, 19, 154. 

Antiocli Court House, Meade's posi- 
tion at, 51. 

Appleton, Capt., 10. 

Appomattox, 149; Court House, 154. 

Army of tlie Potomac, 31, 33, 34, 60, 
61. 

Arlington Heights, 15. 

Ashby's Gap, 38, 121. 

Averill, Gen., at Battle of "Winches- 
ter, 113; position at Fisher's Hill, 
118. 

Bascom, Reed, 10. 

Baltimore, 15, 17, ist 35, 36. 

Baitley's Mill, 51. 

Barry, Gen., 60. 

Barton, Gen., captured, 150. 

Ball's Cross Roads, 153. 

Barr, Surgeon-in-Chief, 91. 

Barber, Maj., 158. 

Beverly Ford, battle of, 31. 

Bear Mountain, 56. 

Birney, Gen., 38, 60, 61, 11. 

Blodgett, Capt., 62, wounded, 81. 

Blair, Post Master General, house 

burned, 97. 
Bogue, Lieut., 158. 



Bostwick, John G., 159. 
Botts, John Minor, 48, 54. 
Boonsboro', 37. 
Broad Run, 45. 
Brattleboro', 11, 13, 14. 
Bristow Station, battle of, 46. 
Brandy Station, 48, 54, 56. 
Burnside, Gen., 63, 66. 
Buchanan, Capt., 121. 
Buford, Gen.. 45. 
Bull Run, 19, 154. 
Burksville, 152. 
Butler, Gen., S3. 

Camdex, 17. 

Carr, Gen., 49, 50, 59, 158. 

Centerville, 44, 45. 

Cedar Creek, 105, 122, 134. 

Chickamauga, 43. 

Christmas, 58. 

Chandler, Col., 91. 

Chambersburg, burned, 97. 

Chamberlain, Lieut.-Col., wounded, 

107. 
Chandler, Capt., 10 ; Maj., 28, 51, 58, 

62, 108. 
Childe, Surg., 10, 24, 140, 160, 164. 
Chase, Camp, 15, 19. 
Church, Regimental, 162. 
Chancellorsville, 31, 68, 154. 



246 



Cliattanooga, 43. 

Chaplain's duties, IGl. 

Clark, Assist. Surg., 10, 25, 140, 160. 

Clifton, 107. 

Clendcnin, Col., 89. 

Clark, Lieut., 132. 

Cold Harbor, 78. 

Corse, Gen., 150. 

Crown, Corp., 133. 

Crook, Gen., 98, 99, 117, 118, 122, 

125, 130. 
Crampton Gap, 35. 
Culpepper, 43, 45, 4S, 50, 59. 
Custar, Gen., 78, 121, 129, 130, 131, 

149. 

Damon, Capt., 10 ; Lieut. -Col., 138, 

139, report of, 143. 
Davis, Col., 25, 28. 
Darrah, Capt., 50, 51 ; killed 81 ; 

Biographical Sketch of, 183. 
Davis, Capt., 115, 132, 155. 
Danville, 152. 
Dean. Capt., 30. 
De Trobriand, Gen., 47. 
Dewe}', Capt., 133. 
De Boise, Gen., 150. 
Detonsville, 149. 
Dillingham, Capt., 10, 51 ; Maj., 114 : 

Biographical Sketch of, 109. 
Dix, Gen., 15. 

Eahly, Gen., 87, 89, 94, 99; at 
Fisher's Hill, 105, 123, 132, 134, 
149, 150. 

Edson, Lieut.-Col., 10, 21. 

Edwards Ferrjs 20, 31. 

Elliott, Brig.-Gen., 3G. 

Ely's Ford, 63. 

Emery, Gen. 127. 

Ewell, Gen., 40, 49, 148-9. 

Falmouth, 31. 
Fairfax Court House, 46. 
False Alarm, 55. 
Farr, Capt, 158. 



Fisher's Hill, 115, 116, 119. 

Five Forks, 148, 154. 

First "Scare, "21. 

First Death, 28. 

Fort Steadmuii, 138, 142. 

Fort Haskell, 142. 

Fox's Ford, 41. 

Freeman's Ford, 43, 44. 

Franklin, Gen., captured, 97. 

Fredericksburg, 31, 73, 153. 

French, Maj.-Gen., 34, 36, 42, 45. 47, 

49, 50, 53. 
Frederick, 35. 
Frost, Capt., 10, 13, SO ; killed, 81; 

Biographical Sketch of, 175. 

Gale, Lieut., 51. 

Gettey, Gen., 123, 129. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 35,37; referred 

to, 40, 41, 154. 
Germania Ford, 54, 63. 
Gilmore, Harry, 96. 
Goldsboro', 151. 
Gordon, Gen., 124, 127. 
Grant, Gen., 60, 63 ; justified 67, 68, 

74 ; commissariat, 75 ; order to 

Gen. Hunter, 102. 
Griffin, Gen., 64, 66, 150. 
Greeley, Horace, referred to, 67. 
Griffin, Lieut.-Col., 89. 
Grover, Brig.-Gen., 25. 
Greenwich, 44, 45. 
Grover, Gen., 127. 
Greer, Lieut., 133. 
Gregg, Geu., 149. 

Haynes, Chaplain, 10; at Frederick, 

91 ; resigned, 206. 
Harper's Ferry, 33, 34, 36, 38. 
Halleck, Maj.-Gen., S4. 
Hazel River, 56. 
Hall, Hon. Henry, 60. 
Hancock, Gen., 66 ; charge at Spott- 

sylvania, 71, 72, 77, 143. 
Hagerstown, 89. 
Harrisonburg, 119. 



247 



llatchei-'s Klin, 137. 
Hedgeniau River, 5iJ. 
Heintzclmaii, Camp, 30, 33 ; Gen., 

fid. 
Henry. Maj., 10, 21 ; Lieut.-CoL. 27, 

2S, 41, 66, ISO ; wounded 81, 120, 

132. 
Hill, A. P., 45. 46. 
Hicks, Lieut., 51, 119, 158. 
Hill, Lieut., 51 : wounded, 114, 158; 

Biographieal Sketch, 190. 
Howard, Gen., 60. 
Howe, Col., 156. 
Hooker, Gen.. 33, 34, 60. 
Harris, Lieut.-Col., 48. 
Hunt. Caiit., 10, 29, 41 ; wounded. 

81, 115. 
Hunter, Gen., 88, 89. 
Humphrey, Gen., 143. 

Jacksox, Stonewall, 19, 46, 68. 

Jettersville, 148. 

Jewett, Col., 10, 15, 27, 29, 35, 36, 

37, 41, 50, 51, 61. 
Johnson, Bushrod, 71. 
Johnson, Gen. Bradley, 89 
Johnston, J. E., 151. 152, 153. 
Johnson, Andrew, 1.53. 
Judson, Capt., 65. 

Kearney, Gen.. 60. 
Kelley's Ford, 41, 47. 
Kensiiaw, Gen., 105, 124, 125. 
Kitching, Gen., 123, 125. 
Kingsley, Lieut., 51 ; Capt., 158. 
Kifer, Col., 49, 50, 61 ; wounded, 64; 

Gen., 139. 
Kilpatrick, Gen., 35. 

Lamb's Battery, 117. 

Ladies in camp, 5b. 

Lewis, Sergt., captures a Maj., 

Lieut., etc., 80; Capt., 158. 
Lee. Gen., .31, 40, 45, 48, 56, 142, 148, 

149, 150. 
Lee, Fitz Hugh, 1.50. 



Lincoln, Pres., 134, 151. 

Lovetsville, 3s. 

Loudon Valley, 38. 

Luray Valley, 115. 

Lyman, Adj., 10, 41, 115, 132. 

Maiioney, Sergt., 128. 

Maryland, 31, 33, 38. 

Manassas Gap, 38, 39, 40. 

Markham,39. 

Madison Court House, 56. 

Magnolia Station, 96. 

Martinsburg, 107. 

McMillian, Gen., 126. 

McKnight, Capt., 12S, 132. 

McClellan, Gen., 134. 

McKenzie, Gen., 151. 

McLean's House, 151. 

Meade, Gen., 37, 40, 42, 43, 48, 49, 

51, 52, 63, 13S. 
Merritt, Gen., 113, 1.30. 
Meigs, Lieut., 120. 
Mine Run, 51,52. 
Miles, Col.. 19. 
Milroy, Gen.. 31, 34. 
Monocacy, 28, 30 ; Junction, 35 ; 

Battle of, 91 ; saves "Washington. 

94. 
Morris, Gen., 35, 36, 49, .50, 61, 64. 

66, 70, 158. 
Mott, Gen.. 137. 
Muddy Branch, 30. 

New Haven, 14. 
New York, 15, 57. 
Newton, Gen., 53. 

Newton, Lieut., killed, 81 ; Bio- 
graphical Sketch of, 187. 
New Market, 116, 119. 

Offut's Cross Roads, 25. 
Orange Grove, 52. 
Ord, Gen., 147, 150. 

Parker, Rev. Dr., 60. 
Park, Gen., 147. 



248 



Pain's Cross Roads, 149, 
Petersburg, 84, 87, 136, 147, 154. 
Peabody, Willie, 100. 
Pegram, Gen., 124, 125, 150. 
Pennsylvania, 31, 35, 38. 
Perry, Chaplain, 193. 
Philadelphia, 15, 17. 
Piedmont, 38. 
Pitkin, Gen., 153. 
Piatt, Capt., 10, 30, 39. 
Pleasanton, Gen., 31. 
Pleasant, Mr.. 33. 
Pope, Gen., 19. 
Pooleville, 13, 28, 29, 30. 
Potomac, 31, 38, 41. 
Port Hudson, 42. 
Pollard, Dr., 77. 
Pollard, E. A., 108, 132. 
Prince, Gen., 49,61. 

QUARLES Mills, 75. 

Raccoon Ford. 60. 

Ramseur, Gen.. 124, 125, 134. 

Rappahannock, 31, 40, 43, 45, 47, 54. 

Rapidan, 43, 48, 53, 56. 

Read, Lieut., 132. 

Read, Adj., wounded, 145 ; Bio- 
graphical Sketch of, 193, 

Reynolds, Capt., 158. 

Richmond, 35, 136, 147. 

Ricketts, Gen., 61, 64, 79, 89, 92, 95, 
129, 132. 155. 

Roll and Roster, 205. 

Rockville, 28. 

Rout's Hill, 41. 

Rosecrans, Gen,, 43. 

Robertson's Tavern, 49, 51, 52. 

Robinson, Capt., 52, 53. 

Russell, Gen., 112 ; killed, 113. 

Rutherford, Asst. Surg., 10, 26, 91, 
160. 

Sailors' Creek, 149, 154. 
Salisbury, Capt., 30, 108, 133 ; Maj., 
134, 154, 155. 



Sandy Hook, 34. 

Salem 38. 

Scriver, Col., 140. 

Sedgwick, Gen., 53, 70. 

Seneca Creek, 23, 25 ; Mills, 30 ; 
Lock, 30. 

Seymour, Gen., 64, 66, 138. 

Shenandoah Valley, 68, 115. 

Sheridan, Gen., 68, 103, 105,106,107, 
108, 110. 116, 119, 120, 129, 130, 131, 
132, 134, 142, 149. 

Shawl, Col., 81, 85. 

Sherman, Gen., 142, 151. 152, 153. 

Sheldon, Capt., 10, 29, 41, 62, 157. 

Shaler, Gen., 66, 67. 

Shepley, Gen., 148. 

Sickles, Gen., 36, 60. 

Siegel, Gen., 88, 89. 

Sleeper's Battery, 45- 

Smith, Col., 49. 

Smith, J. G., 108. 

Smith, Gov., 60, 153. 

Snickers ville, 38. 

Soldiers' Home, 17. 

South Mountain, 19, 35, 154. 

Springfield, 14. 

Springville, 43. 

Spottsylvania Court House, C8, 69. 

Spinola, Gen., 38. 

Stuart, J. E. B., 31, 43, 46, 71. 

Stoughton, Col., 47. 

Steel, Capt., 10, 158. 

Stetson Lieut., killed 81 ; Biograph- 
ical Sketch of, 185, 

Stanton, Col., 92. 

Strashurg, 105, 115, 134. 

Sulphur Springs, 41, 45. 

Sykes, Gen., 53. 

Tabor, CapL, 158. 
Thompson, Capt., 132 ; Biograph- 
ical Sketch of, 180. 
Thanksgiving Day, 26, 42, 49, 134. 
Thayer, Surg. -Gen., 153. 
Thomas, Col., 97. 
Thomas, Col. S. H., 126. 



249 



Towuseud, Lieut.-CoL, 67, 81. 

Toles, Col., 121. 

Tolopotomy Creek, 77. 

Torbert, Gen., 105, 110, 121, 127, 129, 

130. 
Trundiill. Mr., 33. 
Truax, Col., 96. 
Tyler, Brig.-Gen., 31,91. 
Tyler, Geo., 76. 

Union, 38. 
Upperville, 38. 
Uptou, Gen., 112. 

Valentine, Capt.. 157. 

Vermont, Tenth, organization or- 
dered, 9 ; organized, 10 ; at Brat- 
tleboro', 11 ; arrive at Philadelphia, 
17 ; go into camp, 19 ; first 
"scare." 21 ; enjoy Thanksgiving, 
27 ; leave Camp Heintzeiman, 33; 
reach Harper's Ferry, 34 ; at 
Monocacy Bridge, 36 ; drive the 
enemy neai" Warrenton, 45; made 
a charge, 50; go into winter quar- 
ters, 54 ; at the battle of the Wil- 
derness, 64; charge across the 
Ny, 73; at Tolopotomy Creek, 77; 
at Bermuda Hundreds, 83 ; ordered 
to Harper's Ferry, 87; report to 
Gen. Wallace, 88; take part in the 
battle of Monocacy, 91 ; arrive at 
the Relay House,*93 ; attacked, 106 ; 
hold a town meeting, 108; take 
part in the battle of Winchester, 



111; at Cedar Creek, 132; hold an 
election, 134; cross the Appomat- 
tox, 147 ; enter Petersburg, ib. ; 
marched to Washington, 153; mus- 
tered out. 154; reunion, 164, 

Vermont, 41, 

Vicksburg, 42. 

■Washington, 15, 25, 28, 30, 34, 41, 

57, 73, 95, 136. 
Warrington, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 63. 
Warren. Gen., 45, 46, 52, 53, 66, 77, 

137, 143. 
Wallace, Gen., 88, 89, 90, 92. 
Washburn, Adj,-Gen„ 153, 156. 
Wadleigh, Maj., 156. 
Welch, Lieut., 132. 
Weitzel, Gen., 147, 148. 
Whipple, F. D..24. 
White's Guerrillas, 28, 29. 
Wharton, Gen., 124, 125. 
Wheaton, Gen,, 149. 
White, Lieut., 132, 
Wheeler. Lieut,, 132, 
Winter Quarters, ,55, 
Wilderness, 62, 64, 154. 
Widow Nolan's Bridge, 76. 
Winchester, 31, 105, 107, 108, 154. 
Williamsport, ,37, 38, 40, 89. 
Winslovv, Capt.. 10, 207. 
Woodstock, 119. 

Wright, Gen., 71, 77, 95, 123, 129, 
147, 153, 

Yankees, 40. 






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